Most of you are probably still clutching your stomachs, jeans unbuttoned and fully unzipped, feeling equally over-stuffed as you are oddly satisfied to be in the food coma you always knew was coming. And while you probably don't want to look at another turkey or slice of ham for a little while, let's talk about one odd Christmas feast tradition, because – how can we not?
Did you know in Japan they eat KFC for dinner at Christmas? Cue: "Wuuuuut?"
Yep, every year around 3.6 million families line up at their local KFC, some having to queue for hours, in order to grab a box of the finger-lickin' chicken to bring home for their traditional holiday feast.
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But why the heck would they choose fast food over a nice family-cooked meal at home? Well, you've got to remember that Japan isn't a Christian country – it's predominantly Shinto and Buddhist – and so Christmas isn't really a thing there. But, as the whole world becomes increasingly globalised, Christmas has started to become a new kind of tradition for some families there and it just so happens that it now goes hand-in-hand with the American fried chicken chain.
One theory says that foreign visitors in Japan during Christmas time lamented the fact they couldn't find their staple Christmas turkey anywhere, so they went to KFC thinking fried chicken was a good enough substitute. Apparently, the guy who managed Japan's first KFC, Takeshi Okawara, thought of selling a special "party barrel" to offer customers something a little more festive for Christmas time.
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But the official story from KFC is that a Christian kindergarten in Japan wanted to order KFC for its kids' Christmas party (I'm sure the parent committee would've had something to say about that) and they insisted the KFC shop manager dress up as Santa Claus when delivering it. The company said more and more schools started ordering KFC for their Christmas parties and in 1974, the chain offered its first special Christmas meal offer.
But however it came about, the marketing plan was genius (and apparently, Okawara eventually went on to become KFC Japan's CEO for 18 years). Some branches have their usual sales skyrocket to 10 times what they normally sell, and a whopping one third of the yearly sales in Japan come from Christmas-time sales. Joonas Rokka, associate professor of marketing at Emlyon Business School in France told the BBC: "It filled a void."
"There was no tradition of Christmas in Japan, and so KFC came in and said this is what you should do on Christmas," he added.
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"Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii", or "Kentucky for Christmas" was a total hit, with people now coming in every year to pick up their Christmas meals from stores with Colonel Sanders standing outside in a red Santa suit. Japanese families usually buy the meal containing a nice, fat bucket of crispy fried chicken that comes with salad, wine and even some cake. But you can also just buy an entire chook if you so prefer.
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And you know what? Good on them, it saves you from slaving away in the kitchen for hours only to have your uncle Ron complain that the potatoes aren't as good as last year. Stick a bucket of KFC under his nose next year and see what he says then. Who knows? Maybe he'll warm to the bizarre Japanese tradition too.
