Japan Department Stores Gear Up for “Chugen” Summer Gift Season

Tokyo, June 3 (Jiji Press)–Department store operators in Japan are gearing up in earnest for this year’s “chugen” summer gift-giving season. This year, amid declining gift demand, department store operators have expanded their product lineups for customers’ personal splurges and gifts for family members. Additionally, some have rolled out merchandise tailored to the 2026 World Cup, which is set to kick off on June 11, hoping to boost customer’s purchase intentions. On Wednesday, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd.’s flagship Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward opened a gift center, showing strong enthusiasm among store staff for the sales season. The store offered a wide selection of beverages suited to the tough summer. It also sells online-exclusive uniforms with autographs of Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi and others as “rewards for customers themselves,” according to a store official. “Since it’s a special occasion, I want to choose a nice gift,” said a woman in her 40s who visited the store on the day despite heavy rain and strong winds as Typhoon Jangmi approached the Kanto eastern region. Takashimaya Co.’s Nihonbashi department store located nearby introduced beer dispensers and sets of bite-sized snacks, believing that customers would enjoy such products with family and friends while watching World Cup matches. A Sogo & Seibu Co. department store in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, has put on sale a four-roll pack of premium toilet paper at a discounted price of 3,850 yen per 10-pack set. The store displayed such bargain items for household use at its gift center, hoping that customers who come to buy summer gifts will make additional purchases amid persistent inflation. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]