The things on January 2 are hatsu yume(初夢): first dream, kaizome (書初め): literally first writing, but actually the special New Year calligraphy, hatsu uri(初売り): first sale, ippan sanga(一般参賀): the New Year's visit to the Imperial Palace, and Hakone ekiden(箱根駅伝): the first half of the long-distance relay road race between Tokyo (東京) and Hakone (箱根) by college students of the Metropolitan area.
Regarding hatsu uri, Sendai (仙台) is very famous for its free gifts.
Many department stores and other shops prepare for the special grab bag called fukubukuro (福袋), literally fortune bag. People are looking forward to the first sale of the fukubukuro and wait in a long line before stores open.
At Nihonbashi MitsukoshiHead Store (日本橋三越本店) before it opened there were 8,000 people waiting, therefore they opened 15 minutes earlier than usual.
At Seibu Ikebukuro Head Store (西武池袋本店) there were 20,000 people waiting and they opened 15 minutes earlier than usual. They prepared 7,000 bags but they were sold out within less than one hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment