【時事英文】
Why Japan Celebrates Christmas with KFC?
為何日本人聖誕節一定要吃肯德基？
Every Christmas, Ryohei Ando gathers his family together for a holiday tradition. Just like their father did as a child, his two children will reach deep into a red-and-white bucket and pick out the best piece of fried chicken they can find.
每年聖誕節，安藤量平都會找他的家人一起來按照傳統方式慶祝。就像安藤先生年幼時所做過的事情一樣，他的兩個孩子們會將小手伸入紅色與白色相間的紙桶內取出他們所能找到最美味部位的炸雞。
Yes, it’s a Merry KFC Christmas for the Ando family. It may seem odd anywhere outside Japan, but Ando’s family and millions of others would never let a Christmas go by without Kentucky Fried Chicken. Every Christmas season an estimated 3.6 million Japanese families treat themselves to fried chicken from the American fast-food chain, in what has become a nationwide tradition.
是的，這又是安藤一家的快樂肯德基聖誕節。或許這種慶祝方式在日本以外的地方看起來都是相當的怪異，可是安藤家及其他數百萬的日本家庭都會以享受肯德基炸雞的方式來度過聖誕佳節。每次聖誕檔期，估計都有三百六十萬戶日本家庭會從肯德基取走訂購的炸雞餐點並享用，這早已是舉國皆然的傳統了。
“My kids, they think it’s natural,” says Ando, a 40-year-old in the marketing department of a Tokyo sporting goods company.
年方四十，且任職於東京的一家體育用品公司行銷部門的安藤說：「我的小孩們認為這(聖誕節吃肯德基炸雞慶祝)是一件很自然的事情。」。
While millions do celebrate Christmas with KFC, others in Japan treat it as a romantic holiday similar to Valentine’s Day, and couples mark the occasion with dinner in upscale restaurants. For other Japanese families, Christmas is acknowledged but not celebrated in any particular way.
儘管在日本有數百萬家庭用肯德基來慶祝聖誕節，其他的人們卻將這個節日視作和西洋情人節類似的一個浪漫日子，所以情侶們會以在高檔餐廳享用耶誕大餐來為這個特別時刻留下紀念。至於對其他的日本家庭來說，他們認同聖誕節的存在，卻不會用任何特別的方式來慶祝這一天。
But for those who do partake, it’s not as simple as walking in and ordering. December is a busy month for KFC in Japan – daily sales at some restaurants during the Christmas period can be 10 times their usual take. Getting the KFC special Christmas dinner often requires ordering it weeks in advance, and those who didn’t will wait in line, sometimes for hours.
不過對於那些確實會參與這麼一個特別日子的人們來說，想吃肯德基卻不是一件簡單到只要走進店裡並點餐就好的事了。對位於日本的所有肯德基分店來說，十二月是他們接單接到手軟的時刻──有些分店在聖誕檔期的日銷售額可以多達平時的十倍。想要拿到肯德基耶誕特餐組合通常需要在好幾個禮拜前就開始預訂，而要是有沒預訂，想要現場排隊的人，那他們可能都得等上好幾個小時才能取餐。
The genesis of Japan’s KFC tradition is a tale of corporate promotion that any business heading to Japan ought to study, one that sounds almost like a holiday parable.
創下在日本這般盛行的肯德基傳統，可說是企業行銷的傳奇故事，且任何打算進軍日本的企業都應該加以學習，雖說這故事的由來聽起來幾乎像是種比喻。
According to KFC Japan spokeswoman Motoichi Nakatani, it started thanks to Takeshi Okawara, the manager of the first KFC in the country. Shortly after it opened in 1970, Okawara woke up at midnight and jotted down an idea that came to him in a dream: a “party barrel” to be sold on Christmas.
根據肯德基日本分公司的發言人中谷元一表示，在聖誕節吃肯德基這個點子是起自於日本第一位肯德基分公司的經理，大河原毅。在日本的第一家肯德基於1970年開幕後不久，店長大河原毅在半夜醒來並振筆疾書，寫下他夢到的一個主意：在聖誕節時賣「派對全家餐」。
Okawara dreamed up the idea after overhearing a couple of foreigners in his store talk about how they missed having turkey for Christmas, according to Nakatani. Okawara hoped a Christmas dinner of fried chicken could be a fine substitute, and so he began marketing his Party Barrel as a way to celebrate the holiday.
大河原是在聽到一對外國夫婦在店內用餐時，聊到很思念在聖誕節吃火雞的日子後才夢到該點子的。於是他期望炸雞可能是個在聖誕節晚餐桌上，取代火雞的絕佳替代品，便開始行銷起「派對全家餐」來作為慶祝聖誕節的方式。
In 1974, KFC took the marketing plan national, calling it Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii, or Kentucky for Christmas. It took off quickly, and so did the Harvard-educated Okawara, who climbed through the company ranks and served as president and CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan from 1984 to 2002.
肯德基在1974年起，於全日本採用這項叫做《聖誕節就是要肯德基》的行銷計畫，並很快地獲得成功，而曾於哈佛念書的大河原也從1984至2002年期間，一路從店長晉升到日本肯德基總裁兼執行長的職位。
The Party Barrel for Christmas became almost immediately a national phenomenon, says Joonas Rokka, associate professor of marketing at Emlyon Business School in France. He has studied the KFC Christmas in Japan as a model promotions campaign.
法國里昂商學院行銷學副教授羅卡表示，肯德基的聖誕節「派對全家餐」幾乎馬上成為一種風靡全國的現象。羅卡自過去就開始了解日本的聖誕節吃肯德基風潮，並將其作為推銷活動範本來研究。
“It filled a void,” Rokka says. “There was no tradition of Christmas in Japan, and so KFC came in and said, this is what you should do on Christmas.”
羅卡表示：「它填補了一種虛榮。原本日本並沒有過聖誕節的傳統，因此肯德基就適時地切入告訴日本民眾，這是你們應該在聖誕節做的事。」
Advertisements for the company’s Christmas meals show happy Japanese families crowding around barrels of fried chicken. But it’s not just breasts and thighs – the meals have morphed into special family meal-sized boxes filled with chicken, cake, and wine. This year, the company is selling Kentucky Christmas dinner packages that range from a box of chicken for 3,780 yen, ($32), up to a “premium” whole-roasted chicken and sides for 5,800 yen. According to KFC, the packages account for about a third of the chain’s yearly sales in Japan.
在肯德基的聖誕歡樂餐廣告中，我們可以看到許許多多的日本家庭都一臉歡喜的圍繞在一桶桶的炸雞餐旁等著大快朵頤一番。但是這些全家餐裡頭並非只有雞胸肉和雞腿肉──這些套餐已經轉型成特殊家庭號尺寸的盒子，裡面裝有炸雞，蛋糕，還有紅酒。今年，肯德基販售聖誕外帶全家餐的套裝組合從3,780日圓(折合32塊美金)的純炸雞基本款，到所謂「高級款」的烤全雞加配餐，要價5,800日圓。根據肯德基所述，他們在日本的聖誕檔期販售的套餐業績，足佔全年營銷的三分之一。
It also helped that the stores dressed up the company mascot, the smiling white-haired Colonel Sanders, in Santa outfits. In a country that puts high value on its elders, the red satin-suited Sanders soon became a symbol of a holiday.
當肯德基的各家分店為公司的吉祥物，也就是一頭白髮，臉上掛著微笑的桑德斯上校(肯德基爺爺)加上聖誕裝扮後，更有刺激買氣的效果。在日本這麼一個重視年長者的國家，換上一身紅色聖誕服裝的肯德基爺爺，更是馬上成為了這個節日的最佳象徵。
“KFC on Christmas. It’s one of the strangest things I’ve heard,” Gillespie says. “If you brought a bucket of fried chicken to Christmas dinner, honestly, I’d be mad at you.”
「聖誕節吃肯德基，是我所聽過最奇怪的其中一件事了」一位外國人吉列斯比這麼認為。「坦白地說，如果你在聖誕節的晚餐桌上，擺上一桶炸雞，我會對你感到大為光火。」
It isn’t a crack on KFC’s products necessarily, says Gillespie. The general idea of bringing fast food to Christmas dinner “would be viewed as rude by most anyone,” Gillespie says.
吉列斯比繼續表示，並不是說一定要對肯德基的產品這樣子的感到不滿，而是一般歐美民眾的想法都認為，要是將速食帶到聖誕晚餐的場合，「大多數的人都會認為這是一件很無禮的舉動。」
In Japan, however, where around 1% of the population is Christian, Christmas isn’t an official holiday, Rokka says. So the idea that families are going to spend all day cooking a ham or turkey and side dishes just isn’t practical. Instead, they show up with a bucket of chicken.
不過，羅卡則說，在日本，只有百分之一人口是基督徒，且聖誕節又沒放假，所以日本的家庭根本沒空在家花一整天烹製火腿、火雞，和製作配菜以供聖誕大餐。相反地，當日本民眾下班後，帶一桶炸雞回家團聚，就成為相當實際的傳統。
“This is another sign of globalisation, where consumer rituals spread to other countries and often get translated in different ways,” Rokka says. “It’s not abnormal now to have an Ikea store everywhere in the world. This KFC for Christmas is just taking our consumerism and turning it into a holiday.”
羅卡以為：「這是另一種全球化的象徵，在如此的情況下，消費者慣例被散播到其他國家去，又再被當地民眾用不同方式去加以詮釋。」他繼續表示：「當我們看到全世界都有宜家家居的分店時，已不再會感到任何怪異之處。所以在日本的肯德基，也只是利用我們的消費者主義並將其與節日的意義相結合罷了。」
Having done some travelling abroad, Ando knows that his country might is alone in celebrating Christmas with a bucket of KFC. But for him, he sees the tradition as more than just a company promotion.
在經過一些出國旅遊的歷練後，安藤了解到他的出生地，日本，可能是唯一一個會以肯德基桶餐來慶祝聖誕節的國家。但是對他來說，他把這件事情看作一項傳統，多過於只是公司的行銷手法。
For Ando, he’s still planning to get KFC for his kids this year. But he goes to a bakery for the Christmas cake. On Christmas night, the family will gather around the KFC bucket, just as Ando once did as a child, and just as his children will do in another generation.
對安藤來說，他今年的聖誕節一樣打算要買肯德基歡樂餐給他的孩子們享用。但是他也會去烘焙坊買些聖誕節蛋糕。在聖誕夜的時候，這一家人將會圍繞在肯德基炸雞桶旁，這是安藤小時候曾做過的舉動，而且也是他的孩子們，另一個世代同樣會做的事情。
“It’s kind of a symbol of family reunion,” Ando says. “It’s not about the chicken. It’s about getting the family together, and then there just happens to be chicken as part of it.”
「聖誕節吃肯德基全家餐有點像是全家團聚的一種象徵」，安藤這麼表示，「這並不是跟那些炸雞有關，而是讓一家人能夠團圓，只不過剛好炸雞是團圓場合中的一部分就是了。」
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