A life-size plastic statue of KFC’s Colonel Sanders has been entombed in a shrine in Japan 39 years after it was thrown in a river by a baseball team’s fans.
The statue, showing the colonel in his iconic white suit and bootlace tie, had disappeared in 1985 during a riotous celebration after Osaka’s Hanshin Tigers became Japanese champs.
It was rescued in 2009 from the bottom of the Dotonbori River in Nishinomiya after a search with a dredger and put on display at a KFC branch in Kansai.
Now the statue, minus its left hand and a pair of glasses that were never found, has been laid to rest at Osaka’s Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine.
During a memorial service, KFC’s Japan president Takayuki Hanji made an offering of sake and a bowl of the fast food chain’s fried chicken, part of a Shinto naorai ritual.
After chucking the statue in the river, Hanshin Tigers’ fortunes failed and they hit a losing streak.
Many said they had been cursed by the colonel and would never find success again until the statue was found.
Man Bites Into KFC Burger And Huge Cockroach Falls Out
Japan is KFC’s third biggest market after the United States and China and it has become a tradition to tuck into KFC as a Christmas meal.
The real-life Colonel Harland Sanders’ body buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. In 1980 after lying in state at the Kentucky State Capitol building.
He died aged 90 and was laid to rest wearing his iconic white suit and bootlace tie.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
The Ananova page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
