Japan

In 1970, Takeshi Okawara—manager of the first KFC restaurant in Japan—began promoting fried chicken "party barrels" as a Christmas meal intended to serve as a substitute for the traditional American turkey dinner. Okawara marketed the party barrels as a way to celebrate Christmas, a holiday which lacked widespread traditions in Japan at the time.

KFC Japan expanded the promotion nationwide in 1974 with its long running "Kentucky for Christmas" or "Kentucky Christmas" advertising campaign. Eating KFC food as a Christmas time meal has since become a widely practiced custom in Japan. As of 2019, in Japan, Christmas sales of KFC made around Christmas Eve account for nearly five percent of annual revenue.