FINGER LICKIN’ CHRISTMAS: Millions of Japanese families celebrate holidays with KFC

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For many people in Japan over the last five decades, KFC — and Kentucky Fried Chicken before that — were an integral part of the holidays.

In fact, every year at Christmas, 3.5 million Japanese families choose the chicken chain, according to an Instagram clip shared by the BBC.

Customers line up to grab their version of festive fast food — from drumsticks and breasts to thighs and wings to nuggets and strips — while some even placed ordered last month to avoid the massive queues across the country.

Why KFC?

According to the outlet, only about 1% of the population are Christian, which leaves millions who don’t celebrate Christmas.

Enter KFC restaurant manager, Takeshi Okawara, who in 1970, overheard an expat missing having turkey for the holiday, prompting him to come up with a Christmas “party barrel,” a KFC spokesperson told the BBC in 2016.

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In 1974, he introduced Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii, or “Kentucky for Christmas,” a tradition of eating KFC on Dec. 24.

The Christmas Eve tradition grew exponentially, from simple buckets of fried chicken to today’s standard party box that includes eight pieces of their famous chicken, shrimp gratin and chocolate cake.

KFC in Japan capitalized on the tradition, and the meals are now available in the days leading up to Christmas.

It probably doesn’t hurt that the late KFC founder Colonel Sanders, and his spokesperson successor, bear a striking resemblance to Santa Claus.