TOKYO (Reuters – A line of people running to the doors of almost every KFC in Japan has long been a Christmas tradition. But COVID-19 social ditancing rules discourage the lines and place rigid conditions for dine-in.

KFC Holdings Japan was the domestic licensor for the year. Yum! Brands Inc Customers are being encouraged to order their chicken online rather than waiting in long lines.

This week is the biggest for the company and this move should help to keep those revenues at record levels. Customers can also continue a long tradition dating back to the 1970s.

Although only 1% of Japan is Christian, its commercial aspect has been accepted.

According to company legend, the Christmas campaign was started by Japanese customers who were unhappy about not being able to find turkey for the holiday season. A bucket of chicken and a bottle with wine was the initial promotion “Kentucky for christmas” that began in 1974.

KFC Japan has moved the campaign’s start date up and provided price incentives to early bird customers in order to conform with COVID-19.

Tetsuya Naguchi, spokesperson for Tetsuya said “As an infected countermeasure,” he stated that reservations are being spread out to reduce the number of people gathered together.

The change has been accepted by customers, who even see making reservations as an indicator of their maturity.

Rise Ito (24-year-old Japanese musician) tweeted, “I made reservations for Kentucky yesterday so I don’t think that I’ll need to run around looking for poultry this Christmas.” “I have grown up since last Christmas!”

KFC Japan’s Christmas sales reached an all-time high of 7.1 Billion yen ($62.5 Million) in 2019. However, the Shared Research research firm found that revenue fell to 6.9 Billon yen in 2020, due to social distancing policies and increased COVID-19 litigation.

KFC has been giving out commemorative plaques and Statues of Colonel Harland Sanders as Santa Claus since the beginning of the promotion.

Other companies have gotten in on the chicken tradition, with convenience stores chains Seven & I Holdings and FamilyMart Co offering their own holiday platters.

Eric C. Rath from the University of Kansas, who studies the subject, explained that KFC’s entry into Japan’s food market in the 1970s, and their Christmas campaign, were perfectly timed.

“Dining out was becoming more common for families and young persons, especially young ladies,” he stated.

($1 = 113.6000 yen)