Sendai's New Year's sales are amazing! Get your hands on a luxurious lucky bag in Sendai on the 2nd of January!

When you think of New Year's in Sendai, the first thing that comes to mind is the first sale!

Although the first sale is now held all over Japan, it originated as a commercial event held in the Sendai domain during the Edo period!

Did you know that the Sendai New Year's sale is the most extravagant New Year's sale in Japan?

This time, we will tell you how luxurious Sendai's first sale is and why it is so luxurious!

What are the amazing products at Sendai's New Year's sale?

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A symbol of the extravagance of Sendai's New Year's sales can be found in the lucky bags sold at each department store

There are many department stores in Sendai, including Sendai Mitsukoshi, Fujisaki, S-Pal, Parco, and Aeru, and each one has lines of over 1,000 people every year!

The main attraction is undoubtedly the lucky bag.
These department stores not only sell the usual lucky bags that contain 50,000 yen worth of goods for 10,000 yen, but also lucky bags unique to Sendai, such as Rakuten support lucky bags and lucky bags with tickets to stay at Uminomori Aquarium, and even lucky bags that come with a single-story house!

The most expensive lucky bag sold at Sendai Mitsukoshi in 2017 was a "prayer beads product made of 108 pieces of red coral strung together," which cost a whopping 200 million yen!

Among the most luxurious items on offer at Sendai's first sale in Japan, the most popular is said to be the Igeta Tea Box

Tea boxes are popular! Get a luxurious prize at Igeta Tea!

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Located a 10-minute walk from JR Sendai Station,
Ocha no Igeta is located in the middle of the shopping arcade, and huge lines form around the evening of New Year's Day, even though the stores are closed.

The objective is the tea box.
Unlike lucky bags, Igeta Tea's tea boxes are prizes given to the first 100 people who spend over 5,000 yen.
The tea boxes are ranked into large, medium and small boxes, and the large box is a special gift that only the first three people can get.
This large box is so popular that some brave souls line up on New Year's Day, and in some cases, New Year's Eve or even December 30th!

Spending more than two days outside in the cold Tohoku weather is extremely tough on your body, so if you're up for the challenge, make sure you take proper precautions against the cold!

As for what's inside, although the contents are different every year, even a small box is sure to cost over 10,000 yen!

In some years, the larger venues even had TVs inside!
Giving away such prizes for free is an astonishingly generous gesture.

But why aren't such luxurious prizes given out in other prefectures?
There's actually a deep legal reason for this!

Sendai's New Year's sale violates the Premiums and Gifts Act!? Here's why you can get luxurious prizes for free!

In fact, distributing such high-value prizes is prohibited by the Premiums and Representations Act,
and is therefore prohibited in other prefectures.

So why is Sendai the only place that is recognized?

The reason is that Sendai's first sale is a traditional event

In a document said to have been sent to his son by Date Masamune's father, Terumune, there is the phrase "Kaihajime," in which people in the castle town were asked to deliver rice and salt, and there is a theory that the first sales were being held around this time

Furthermore, in the "Summary of Sendai's Annual Events" written in 1849, it is written that "Urisomebaikai" is "the first day of sales and buying," and "people open up closed stores early in the morning and buy things. It is customary to offer prizes to buyers regardless of the price," proving that it was a beloved traditional event at the end of the Edo period

With this background, the Fair Trade Commission has designated the Sendai Hatsuuri as a traditional event, and as an exception, has permitted the distribution of luxurious prizes within the territory of the former Sendai domain for only three days.
By the way, even if there are stores that hold the Sendai Hatsuuri for more than four days, please note that from the fourth day onwards, they will only be offering regular discounted sales.

Also, Sendai's first sale only starts on January 2nd!
Even if a store is open on New Year's Day, it will be business as usual, not the Sendai first sale, so make sure to use the 1st as a day to save up your energy for the first sale!

INFORMATION

Chimon

A writer with thinning hair who loves traveling and laughter.
A nice guy who hides his thinning hair by shaving!
He travels from north to south to bring smiles to Tohoku with his writing!

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