Tokyo, Nov. 4 (Jiji Press)–Department stores in Japan are boosting self-gifting lineups this year as part of “oseibo” year-end gift campaigns, including luxury accommodation tickets and hot pot kits. Sogo & Seibu Co.’s Yokohama store on Friday set up a dedicated area for year-end gifts two weeks earlier than the previous year. The chain is selling a variety of hot pot products, including a Tom Yum Goong kit with a French flavor, priced at 8,640 yen. The company also offers casual confectionery items and Christmas cakes, which are not conventionally part of the oseibo tradition, amid rising inflation. “We’re seeing increasing demand for casual gifts,” which are relatively cheaper, said an official in charge of gift products at Sogo & Seibu. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd.’s Mitsukoshi store in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district opened its gift item space on Wednesday. The company is selling 391,212-yen tickets for stays at a Japanese-style luxury hotel in the Ureshino hot spring area in Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan. The Isetan Mitsukoshi chain is also selling a product featuring domestically grown nuts and coffee products, including one supervised by Alex Ramirez, a Venezuelan-born Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer. Tobu Department Store Co. has doubled its number of self-gifting items, such as confectionery and cosmetics. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
