メリークリスマス

Today is X-mas.  So, “Merry Christmas“.

In Japan, people often eat Kentucky Fried Chicken for their X-mas dinner.
(Click here to see my post about it last year.)

Japanese 「ケンタッキーフライドチキン」 (Kentucky Fried Chicken) stores are very crowded on X-mas Eve and X-mas Day. And they have a special “X-mas Menu”:

(Besides Christmas, Japan also has another unique relationship with Kentucky Fried Chicken…the “Curse Of The Colonel“. Click here to read my post about it.)

Anyways, as I’ve mentioned before, X-mas isn’t even a legal holiday in Japan. But, New Years is Japan’s biggest holiday.

And of Japan’s numerous music TV shows, the one that airs on New Years Eve is the biggest.
It’s called 「紅白歌合戦」 (“Red and White Music Battle“).
It’s a four and a half hour music special and ends in a countdown at midnight on New Years Eve.

Artists who are invited to appear on this show are considered the hottest acts in Japan because of the importance of this show in an artist’s career in Japan.

A number of foreign artists have appeared on this show over the years. Namely, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, and Sarah Brightman, among others.

This year, the English singer Susan Boyle is scheduled to perform live on the show.

White Day

Today is 「ホワイト・デー」 (White Day).
(Click here to read my F.A.Q. about 「ホワイト・デー」 (White Day)).

「ホワイト・デー」 (White Day) is the day the men give gifts to the women who gave them chocolate on 「バレンタイン・デー」 (Valentine’s Day)…so I gave chocolate to my wife and daughters today.

+++

Yesterday was Friday The 13th. Just last month, the 13th was on the Friday too…and I wrote a post about it. (Click here to read it.)

+++

In Osaka, fans of the Japanese baseball team The Hanshin Tigers are quite zealous.
When their team wins, many fans jump into a nearby river. It’s a Hanshin Tigers tradition.

In 1985, the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan Baseball Championship for the first time.
Many fans, of course, jumped into the river…and one fan took the Colonel Sanders statue* from the front of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and threw it into the river.

(*In Japan, KFC restaurants have lifesize statues of Colonel Sanders out front.)

The Hanshin Tigers have never won the Japan Baseball Championship pendant again.

An urban legend developed that the Tigers‘ bad luck since 1985 was due to the 「カーネルサンダースの呪い」 (“Curse Of Colonel Sanders“)!
And the curse wouldn’t be lifted, and the Hanshin Tigers bad luck end, until the statue was retrieved from the river.

(I wrote a comment on another post about this “curse”. Click here to read it).

Well…last Tuesday, the statue of Colonel Sanders was found by divers in the river.

As you might expect, the statue’s not in the best condition after sitting on the riverbed for 24 years…but I guess the 「カーネルサンダースの呪い」 (“Curse Of Colonel Sanders“) has ended.
So, the Hanshin Tigers have no excuse if the continue to lose!