Japan’s Year-End Gifts Strive For ‘Modest Luxury’; Department Stores Showcase Budget-Friendly Offerings to Attract Customers amid Rising Costs

The Yomiuri Shimbun

7:00 JST, November 8, 2024

Department stores nationwide have started full-scale battles for year-end gifts. It is believed this year’s year-end holiday, encompassing nine days from Dec. 28 to Jan. 5, will allow for more get togethers with family members and relatives. To seize on this, stores are offering a wide variety of food products designed for enjoying modest luxury at home.

The Nihombashi Takashimaya Shopping Center in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, set up their year-end gift center on Wednesday. Items featured include a stew and gratin set from a famous hotel, priced at ¥5,400 including tax, and a kobachi small dish collection from a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza district, at the same price including tax. As people are increasingly budget-minded amid rising consumer costs, the department store is placing focus on authentic flavors people can enjoy by simply warming them up in a microwave.

The market for year-end gifts this year will drop to ¥842 billion, or a 1.9% decline from last year, according to the Yano Research Institute. While there will be lower demand for formal year-end gifts for business partners and company superiors, an increasing number of people are buying year-end gifts for themselves, their families or hometown relatives following the COVID-19 pandemic, when people started to spend more time at home, according to the institute.

Department stores operator Matsuya Co. aims to balance the demand for special occasions and a budget-oriented mindset. It increased the number of home-delivery-only products at bargain prices by about 1.6 times from last year, such as 550 grams of Miyazaki beef offcuts for ¥5,400 including tax,15% lower than its usual sales price.

While electricity bills remain high, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings is touting “onkatsu,” or doing things to keep warm, through meals. It is promoting hot pot dishes for the year-end and New Year season, a time when many people traditionally get together. Offerings include a Korean hot stew featuring seafood like snow crabs and Japanese scallops.

“We would like to attract people who feel like enjoying luxury during the year-end season,” said a clerk in charge at the department store chain.