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Lucky bags and shopping carts

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

  • Chimon
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When it comes to New Year's in Sendai, the first thing that comes to mind(first sale of the year)! While Hatsuguri is now held all over Japan, its origins lie in the commercial events that took place in the Sendai domain during the Edo period!

that Sendai's New Year's salethe most extravagant in Japan? This time, we'll tell you just how extravagant Sendai's New Year's sale is, and why!

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

Sendai Station
Sendai Station

The epitome of the extravagance of Sendai's New Year's salesthe lucky bags offered by each department store.

Sendai has many department stores, including Sendai Mitsukoshi, Fujisaki, S-PAL, Parco, and Aer, and each of themlines of over 1,000 peoplesees

These department stores sell not only the usual lucky bags that contain 50,000 yen worth of goods for 10,000 yen, but also Sendai-specific lucky bags such as Rakuten support lucky bags and lucky bags that come with tickets to stay at Umino Mori Aquarium, as well aslucky bags that give you a single-story house!

The most expensive lucky bag sold at Sendai Mitsukoshi in 2017 was a "prayer bead product made by stringing together 108 red coral beads," priced at a staggering200 million yen!

Among the many luxurious items at Sendai's New Year's sale, the most popular is said to bethe tea boxes from Igeta Tea Shop.

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

About 10 minutes walk from JR Sendai Station

At Ocha no Igeta, located in the middle of the shopping district, huge lines form from around the evening on New Year's Day, when the stores are closed

The purposea "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 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 from New Year's Day, 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 in their boxes! It's amazing how generous they are to give away such prizes for free

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 prizesPremiums and Representations Actis prohibited under the

So why is Sendai the only place that is recognized?

The reason is thatthe New Year's sale in Sendaiis a traditional event.

In a document supposedly sent by Date Masamune's father, Terumune, to his son,"kaizome,", suggesting that the first sales of the year were taking place around this time.

), written in 1849the "Sendai Nenchu ​​Gyoji Taigi" (Outline of Annual Events in Sendai,"Urisome Baikai" (First Selling and Buying), which means"waking up shops that are closed from early in the morning and making purchases. It is customary to give gifts to those who make purchases, regardless of whether the price is high or low." Thisproves that it was a beloved traditional event during the late Edo period.

With this background, the Fair Trade Commission has recognized the Sendai New Year's sale as a traditional event, and as an exception

Within the territory of the former Sendai domain, the distribution of luxurious prizes is permitted only within the first three days of the New Year

By the way, even if there are stores that hold the Sendai New Year's Sale for more than four days, please be aware that from the fourth day onwards they will only be holding regular 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 operating as usual and not during the Sendai New Year's sale, so make sure to use the day to save up your energy for the sale!

Information

  • Name: Igeta Tea Sendai Central Main Branch
  • Address: Shobundo Building 1F, 2-5-9 Chuo, Aoba-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, 980-0021
  • Phone number: 022-261-1351
  • Official URL:https://www.ocha-igeta.co.jp/

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