 
A legend is born
KFC (or “kentakkii,” as it’s popularly known) launched its Japan-wide Christmas campaign in 1974 and since then has aggressively marketed its buckets as a holiday essential. Today, as Public Radio International's Akiko Fujita has reported, "KFC commercials signal the start of the Christmas season in Japan."
A homesick foreigner wandered in, bemoaned Japan’s lack of turkey, and chose fried chicken as the next-best alternative. Today, the company claims, Japan has a custom of chicken for Christmas, and the origin of this custom is KFC. According to one Tokyo-based consumer, “Turkey here is hard to get, and we don’t have big ovens like in the United States, so it’s easier to eat fried chicken,” says Chisato.
Japanese press declares 'Chicken War'
But this year, some Japanese media report, KFC’s Christmas supremacy may be in peril, as a new contender enters the ring: McDonald’s. McDonald’s spokeswoman Miwa Yamamoto confirms in a phone interview that the company is now “focusing on chicken” with the introduction of their iCon’ series, featuring a line of sandwiches and their first-ever Christmas chicken special, the iCon’ BOX.
Dubbed a “chicken war” by the Japanese news source Insights, the battle of the bird has been heating up since summer, when McDonald’s first unveiled its entire new iCon menu. Popular business magazine Diamond reports it’s been “getting hotter and hotter in the chicken market,” especially since CEO Eikoh Harada boldly proclaimed in June, “McDonald’s is No. 1 for chicken.”
Adapted from:
http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/eat/mcdonalds-vs-kfc-japan-christmas-meals-591494
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Teacher Ackie