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" (Japanese: クリスマスはケンタッキー) or "Kentucky Christmas" (Japanese: ケンタッキークリスマス) 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 per cent of annual revenue.