KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

(the name was originally an

initialism An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial letter of each word in all caps wi ...

for Kentucky Fried Chicken) is a

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...

chain that specializes in

fried chicken Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...

and is headquartered in

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, United States (US). It is the world's second largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

, with 18,875 outlets in 118 countries and territories . Japan is the third-largest market for KFC after China and the United States with 1,165 outlets as of December 2014. In Japan, 70 percent of sales are takeout, with customers tending to buy fried chicken for parties and other special occasions and eating it as a side dish.

History

KFC Japan was originally formed as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between its American parent KFC and Japan's

Mitsubishi Corporation is a Japanese general trading company ( ''sogo shosha'') and a core member of the Mitsubishi Group. For much of the post-war period, Mitsubishi Corporation has been the largest of the five great ''sogo shosha'' (Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, S ...

. Following four years of negotiations, Mitsubishi was awarded the franchise rights to KFC in Japan, and a test store was opened at the Osaka World Expo in March 1970. After its successful debut, the first proper store was opened in the

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

location of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

in November 1970. KFC wanted suburban locations, whereas Mitsubishi argued for city center locations, as cars had not been widely adopted in Japan at that time. Though two more locations were opened in suburban

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, the stores struggled, and after less than a year of operation, had lost

JP¥ The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

100 million. As a result of this failure, Mitsubishi's original plan for urban locations was pursued. The first outlet under the new approach opened in 1972 in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, an upmarket residential area with a large Western

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

community. The strategy was a success, and by December 1973, 100 outlets had been opened. Harland Sanders himself visited the Japanese operations in 1972, 1978 and 1980. In 1983 there were 390 outlets with annual sales just under $300 million. By this time Japan was KFC's largest single foreign market. In August 1990, KFC Japan was listed on the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. The exchange is owned by Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a holding company that it also lists (), and operated by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., a wholly owned sub ...

. KFC benefited from the economic boom in Japan during the 1980s, and grew to 1,000 outlets with annual sales of $1.2 billion by 1993. However, the rapid expansion of outlets saw franchisees competing for market shares with each other, and around 100 outlets closed down in the mid-1990s. In 2000, KFC Japan reported sales of nearly $598 million. In December 2007, Mitsubishi assumed majority control of KFC Japan in a JP¥ 14.83 billion transaction.

Christmas

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 Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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" () or "Kentucky Christmas" () advertising campaign. Eating KFC food as a Christmas time meal has since become a widely practiced custom in Japan. , in Japan, Christmas sales of KFC made around

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

account for nearly five percent of annual revenue.

References

External links

* {{Food chains in Japan 1970 introductions 1970 establishments in Japan The Carlyle Group companies Companies formerly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Restaurants in Japan Christmas meals and feasts Yokohama

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

1990 initial public offerings