Key information
In March 2024, KFC representatives visited the Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine in Osaka to conduct a Shinto funeral for a plastic Colonel Sanders statue. The company sought to provide a proper send-off to the figure, which had been linked to a long-standing sports curse affecting the Hanshin Tigers baseball team.
The superstition originated in 1985 after the Hanshin Tigers won the Japanese league. During celebrations, fans threw a stolen KFC statue into a river because it resembled player Randy Bass. Following this event, the team suffered decades of injuries and poor performance, which fans attributed to a curse.
Attempts to break the spell included a failed 1988 recovery effort by a television program. The statue was eventually retrieved in 2009 during river cleaning operations, though it was found in a damaged, algae-covered state. Despite its recovery, the team's struggles persisted for years.
After the Hanshin Tigers finally secured a championship victory in 2023, the organization felt a formal ritual was necessary to finalize the apology. The funeral included traditional offerings of sake and fried chicken, intended to ensure the team's future success and officially conclude the decades-long curse.
