Thanksgiving in Japan

My husband and I planned a trip to Japan during Thanksgiving week. We did this because it is also an wedding anniversary week. Spending our anniversary in Japan was a great experience, just as it was to have our honeymoon in Japan. Going during this time meant that we would be away from our families for Thanksgiving for the first time. If you are big on Thanksgiving like my husband proclaims he is, then don't travel during this time. You will feel homesick in Japan.


Japan doesn't have a Thanksgiving, but they do have a Labor Thanksgiving Day. This is just a work holiday in Japan. They don't celebrate with meals of turkey and various stuffings. Most of them just have the day off which means the streets are going to be crowded on that day. My husband and I were in Kyoto during Thanksgiving day and the city was packed. We couldn't even use the buses because it was crowded, so we developed a love for the subway system.

The crowds were a problem but like I said before, the homesickness can hit hard for some people. It hit hard for my husband. He wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving in Japan. I told him that Japan doesn't have turkey, it's just not a thing they have to eat. The lack of turkey is why Japan celebrates Christmas with KFC. We didn't celebrate with KFC but we were on the lookout for chicken to celebrate Thanksgiving in Japan.

Our Thanksgiving chicken from Grill & Bar Wild Chicken in Kyoto, Japan.

My husband, with his handy-dandy smartphone, found a place called Grill & Bar Wild Chicken. It's an American grill restaurant and bar in the night district of Kyoto. It definitely left all signs of Japan on the street except for the Japanese workers. They didn't speak English too well but were very friendly and wanted us to have a good time. The bar and kitchen workers were very funny as they would occasionally make an appearance.

The restaurant was a great break from all the Japanese food. My husband and I just ordered a bunch of sides and a whole chicken to share. All the food was delicious.

Nachos and french fries.

Potatoes au gratin.

And that's how we celebrated Thanksgiving in Japan. We made the best of what we had. The restaurant is sadly no longer in business, so you can't experience this yourself anymore but you can always do what we did and just google American restaurants. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

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