The man who helped make eating KFC at Christmas a Japanese tradition says the practice is built on a lie that he still regrets — but that saved his business

• KFC fried chicken has become a Christmas tradition in Japan. 
• Takeshi Okawara, who helped launch KFC in Japan in the early 1970s, played a major role in creating the tradition, casting Colonel Sanders as a pseudo-Santa Claus figure. 
• Okawara even says he lied to the media, claiming that fried chicken was a Western Christmas tradition — a claim he says he still regrets today. 
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The Japanese tradition of eating fried chicken on Christmas may be built on a lie. 

The first KFC in Japan opened in 1970. The store manager, Takeshi Okawara, struggled to drive sales. Customers didn't know what to make of the red-and-white striped roof and the English signs, unsure if the store was selling candy or cutting hair. Okawara told Business Insider's podcast "Brought to you by..." that at times, he had so little money he slept on flour bags in the back of the store. 

At the time, Christmas was not a major event in Japan, where less than 2% of the population is Christian. However, a nun who worked at a nearby school asked if Okawara would get involved in a Christmas party if it served KFC's fried chicken. Okawara agreed, telling "Brought to you by..." he even dressed up as Santa Claus himself, dancing around the classroom with a bucket of fried chicken. 

The party was a success, and soon another kindergarten class asked for a KFC-themed Christmas party. Okawara decided to take the idea and run with it, putting Santa costumes on Colonel Sanders statues outside of KFC stores and marketing fried chicken as a replacement to the American turkey Christmas dinner.

News of KFC's Christmas spirit spread. Soon, national broadcaster NHK asked Okawara if fried chicken was actually a common Western Christmas tradition. 

This is when, according to Okawara, he lied. 

"I ... know that the people are not eating chicken, they are eating turkey," Okawara said. "But I said yes. It was [a] lie." 

"I still regret that. But people ... like it." 

KFC Japan says that Okawara's story isn't quite accurate. According to parent company Yum Brands, a visiting foreigner suggested that KFC start selling chicken on Christmas instead of the traditional turkey.

Whatever the origin, Okawara's decision to link KFC and Christmas took the chain from near failure to massive success, in addition to resulting in the creation of a new winter tradition. KFC's Christmas marketing went national in 1974, and Okawara went on to run KFC Japan. 

KFC's sales continue to skyrocket around Christmas. Locations across Japan dress Colonel Sanders statues up in Santa Claus gear for the holiday season. Even other chains that sell chicken now push Christmas deals in Japan, as shoppers hunt down holiday buckets of chicken.

Today, Okawara's alleged lie has created such a phenomenon that people wait in line for hours and reserve buckets of chicken weeks in advance— all to carry on the tradition of a fried chicken-filled Christmas.  

Listen to the full story on "Brought to you by..." 

SEE ALSO: The parent company of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut is increasingly likely to acquire more chains, and it reveals a massive shift in the fast-food industry

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