The Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food chain started their operation in Japan in 1970. So this year is Kentucky Fried Chicken, Japan‘s 40th anniversary.
They are offering some specials to commemorate the occasion.
When I was growing up in America, I didn’t really like Kentucky Fried Chicken.
It had an image of being greasy, inferior fast-food.
But Kentucky Fried Chicken (or simply “Kentucky“, as it’s often referred to in Japan) is popular in Japan.
For good reason…their food and service is much better in Japan than it is in America.
At Christmas-time in Japan, it is popular to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken.
(Click here to read a post I wrote about X-mas in Japan…including photos of KFC‘s X-mas set-meal.
And click here to read about a Japanese baseball team’s “Curse Of The Colonel (Sanders)“.)
In Japan, Kentucky Fried Chicken has, among other things, delivery service,
a breakfast menu,
and 「レッドホットチキン」 (“Red Hot Chicken“).
How is Kentucky Fried Chicken where you live? Do you like Kentucky Fried Chicken? Have you tried it in Japan? How does it compare to KFC in your country?
Tokyo Five 
KFC service in Japan is terrible- they won’t give you what you ask for and they keep cut off popular extra menu items- its my wife’s liked food not mine. They are bad in Australia. I can’t bad it must be in US- it must a miracle they keep in business or Americans are extremely dumb.
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I don’t know what you mean. What won’t they give you? And what popular items have been cut from the menu?
And … you know I’m an American, right? Why would you say Americans are “dumb”?
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What is the hotline in Japan?
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“Hotline”? For what?
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If I remember correctly, ‘ the Curse of the Colonel’ stems from one overzealous (possibly drunk – there was a huge Daiei next to where the Tigers used to play, and fans could bring in the food and beverages of choice) fan. Apparently, Randy Bass had played an important role in the win, and that particular Colonel Sanders statue was the only thing that had even a passing resemblance, so into the Dotonbori he went. Sho ga nai, ne?
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>Randy Bass had played an important role in the win, and…Colonel Sanders statue was the only thing that had even a passing resemblance
Yes, that’s right. As I mentioned in this post, the Hanshin Tigers fans had a tradition after a win where fans who resembled the players would jump into the river.
The legend is that no fan looked like the American player on the team…but he had a goatee, so someone decided that the Col. Sanders statue in front of a nearby KFC looked close enough.
After the statue was thrown into the river, the Tigers went on a losing streak.
>Sho ga nai, ne? (Japanese phrase similar in meaning to “C’est la vie”)
I don’t care much about baseball..so it’s all “shoganai” to me. 😀
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I haven’t had KFC since we lived in Florida back in the 1970’s. I thought it was pretty greasy too and expensive for a fast food. my favorite fast food is subway or any chain selling subs. we have one right across the street from where we now live and since it is so convenient we eat there once a month or so. they are always expanding their menu and trying out new subs. our favorite is the steak and cheese, the meatball and I like the tuna salad-which is new. do they have subway in Japan? and if they do, is it popular?
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>I haven’t had KFC since…the 1970′s.
Well, honestly, I didn’t like KFC in America. KFC Japan is much better.
>my favorite fast food is subway
Me, too!
>do they have subway in Japan?
Yes, Subway opened their first shop in Japan about twenty years ago or so…shortly after I came here.
I wrote this post about some of the foreign stores with branches in Japan.
>is it popular?
Kinda.
But Subway in Japan is better than it is in America.
The last time we visited America, I went to Subway there and showed my “Subway point-stamp card” so that he could stamp it (and I could “earn” a free sandwich in the future). The American worker was so interested in my “Japanese” Subway card that he offered to give me my order for free if I’d let him keep the card.
Of course, I agreed. 😉
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could I get them to delvier to California?
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Maybe. If you were willing to pay for a delivery person to travel there from here…and wait ten hours or so. 😉
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Thanks for posting. There used to be a KFC branch just a few steps from our apartment near Hatchobori … sadly the building has been torn down and we don’t know where the KFC branch relocated (if at all). Sigh. Would you happen to know their delivery hotline? Been trying w/o success to use the google translate option to decipher their jp website. I miss my KFC meals … hot, fast, delicious and cheap 🙂
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>Would you happen to know their delivery hotline?
I just checked their website.
The phone number for their delivery center in Hatchobori, Tokyo is 03-5250-7056.
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I like me some original recipe. I would eat KFC once in awhile in Japan. Along with Mos Bah-Gah it was my favorite Western-style fast food in Japan. Didn’t notice the preparation of the chicken being much different in Japan vs. the US. But that was long ago.
These days, back in America, I have to try to resist, and mostly succeed.
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>Didn’t notice the preparation of the chicken being much different in Japan vs. the US.
Really?
I haven’t eaten at KFC in America in quite a long time.
Actually, I don’t eat fast-food so often even in Japan.
But I seem to remember that KFC in America wasn’t very good. Maybe I just had a bad experience.
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KFC here is super-greasy, but it is good, until you are sitting on the toilet, also how spicy is that red-hot chicken, it looks good, and I like spicy food (most “spicy” food isn’t really spicy for me).
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>how spicy is that red-hot chicken
I don’t know. I haven’t tried it.
But I like spicy food too.
>most “spicy” food isn’t really spicy for me
Have you ever tried Korean, Thai or Indian food? They can be very spicy!
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Yes I have, and they are a bit spicy, but it isn’t that bad, I haven’t really had anything really spicy except for this one African spice which was really spicy.
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>…I haven’t really had anything really spicy…
If you like your food extremely spicy, there is a Japanese-curry restaurant here in Japan that allows customers to pay for “higher levels” of spiciness.
All the way from level 1 to level 10.
I choose level three or four and it’s plenty hot…I can only imagine what “10″ must be like!
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Mmm, KFC… *coughs*
I may have a weakness for KFC in the UK. I’ve never tried it in the US, but I have in Canada, where they do some spicier and crispier options than UK-based eateries.
I’ve not tried a KFC in Japan. I’m too busy trying to eat my way through every Japanese restaurant I can find to bother with American chains like KFC, Starbucks, and so on.
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Do you like KFC in England?
That’s good that you tried lots of Japanese food while you were here.
Actually, I seldom eat fast-food myself…mostly I eat Japanese food.
Which restaurants here did you particularly like? And dislike?
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I quite like KFC in England, but it is greasy, so I don’t have it often.
Perversely one of my favourite restaurants in Tokyo is a Chinese in Akasaka called San Sai Kyo. I tended not to remember the names of the Japanese restaurants, as they were all excellent, so I didn’t have to remember “Ah, this one was the best, I must go there again”.
I find it next to impossible to have a bad food experience in Japan, whether it’s junk food like Lotteria, an Izakaya (I’m especially fond of the Doma Doma chain), or a higher-end place. Most of all I love that I can get excellent food at Salaryman eateries for extremely reasonable prices.
500en for kare raisu or a donburi. Seriously. Why eat at a Western chain? And after a meal that size, just a sandwich in the evening is plenty! 😀
Omnomnom. See, now I want to go back! 2011 here I come!
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I love donburi too. Which type do you like best?
Have you ever tried Tokyo’s specialty…Monja-yaki?
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My absolute favourite is oyakodon 😀
I haven’t tried monja-yaki. Is it better than it looks?
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Okyakodon is good…but tendon, gyuudon, and my favorite–negi-torodon—are better!
And yes, Monja may not look it, but it’s quite good.
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I’ll eat anything, me 😀
I’m actually quite encouraged that after visiting Japan three times I’ve only barely scratched the surface of what’s available in Japanese cuisine. Gives me (yet another) excuse to come back 😀
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Yes, there’s so much excellent food in Japan.
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We have no KFC in Sweden, so my son and I got curious when we found it in Kyoto. He liked it more than I did. I think it is too salt and greasy. I agree about the service though. And they have beer, non-alcoholic but quite OK, while most fast food places haven’t any at all.
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I haven’t eaten at KFC in awhile, but I don’t think they have beer on their menu (not even no-alcohol beer (which is an abomination anyways, I think)).
In Japan, Burger King and Freshness Burger have beer on the menu (“real” beer…with alcohol).
Burger King in Japan has bourbon too.
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What a pity we didn’t walk those streets in Tokyo where BK is!
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>What a pity we didn’t walk those streets in Tokyo where BK is!
Yeah, there aren’t so many Burger King places compared to other chains.
I seldom eat fast-food…and almost never eat at Burger King—it’s expensive for fast-food.
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Like you I avoided KFC before coming to Japan. When I lived in Tokyo I’d eat it every once in a while, but I haven’t had it in a few years.
Thinking about it is kind of making me hungry. Do they have buffalo wings?
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I wish KFC had “Buffalo Wings” (an American fried chicken wings covered in spicy sauce).
KFC has restaurants in Sendai, I’m sure.
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