Tokyo Jizake Strolling (2024 Year-end sake sales event)
2025-03-19
Since early December, many businesspeople have been excited about the long winter holiday to celebrate the New Year. My sake shop conducted a survey that revealed many consumers will celebrate a 9-day holiday due to the weekday on which the holidays fall on. Sake to celebrate the New Year will go on sale on December 28 for four days. This is the make or break moment. I requested the designer to create flyers to post and many to be printed for distribution to each home. Since we had a large inventory of sake, we borrowed a table from the shopping district office to sell sake at the storefront. Considering the highest volume of sake was sold on December 29 the previous year, we arranged part-time help for this day. We also requested Umeda Sake Brewery, as we do every year, to select the sake to be featured on New Year’s Day.
By Ryuji Takahashi
Since early December, many businesspeople have been excited about the long winter holiday to celebrate the New Year. My sake shop conducted a survey that revealed many consumers will celebrate a 9-day holiday due to the weekday on which the holidays fall on. Sake to celebrate the New Year will go on sale on December 28 for four days. This is the make or break moment. I requested the designer to create flyers to post and many to be printed for distribution to each home. Since we had a large inventory of sake, we borrowed a table from the shopping district office to sell sake at the storefront. Considering the highest volume of sake was sold on December 29 the previous year, we arranged part-time help for this day. We also requested Umeda Sake Brewery, as we do every year, to select the sake to be featured on New Year’s Day.
The sake prepared exclusively for my shop was “Junmai Daiginjo Chiyono-Ume.” I had several meetings with the brewery since October to arrange special packaging for this sake and had a brand name revived that was no longer in use by the brewery. Chiyo means a prolonged period, while ume means to ward off evil, a perfect brand name for the New Year. Since it was a busy time during the sake brewing period, the initial quantity to be released was decided beforehand. The annual event seemed to be widely known as the sake sold out before the end of the year, which required an additional rush order. Other high-end sake also sold out early, which required help from many vendors to gather a lot of Daiginjo sake, perhaps due to the long holiday with many returning home to celebrate the new year.
Kanemasu Brewery sold sake at the storefront on December 28 and 29, while Hakuro Brewery – also based in Niigata prefecture – sold sake at the storefront on December 30 and 31. The same turnout as the previous year was anticipated with part-time help arranged. However, the turnout was much greater than we expected because not all customers had a 9-day holiday. Many customers who had days off on December 28 and 29 still had to work on December 30.
Many customers visited our shop on December 31, which required urgent part-time help. The salesperson from the brewery who helped on December 31 was extremely helpful due to his expertise in selling sake at department stores and retail stores operated by local governments. Before I knew it, the sales figure for the day was the highest on record. I learned this year that weekdays affect sales, even at the end of the year, and that Japanese consumers still enjoy sake to end the year and celebrate the new year. A soba noodle shop stands across the street from our sake shop, where I saw many customers shivering as they stood in a long line. Their sight keenly reminded me the year was ending. I wished for 2025 to be a momentous year as I glanced up at the chilly winter sky during the year-end sake sales event.
東京地酒散歩（年末販売会２０２４）
今年の正月は長いぞと、１２月に入った瞬間からワクワクしていたサラリーマンが多い師走だった。私の店での調査によると曜日的に９連休という人が多かった。さてそんな中、正月の酒が売れ始めるのが一般的に休みに入る２８日からの４日間。ここが勝負所で、１２月に入り、ポスティング用のチラシをデザイナーに依頼し、大量に印刷し、各家庭に配り、酒も大量の在庫を抱え、商店街事務所から店頭販売用の台を借り、昨年は２９日が一番売れたことを鑑み、ピンポイントでバイトも依頼した。そして毎年用意する正月用の目玉商品を今年は広島県梅田酒造場に依頼。当店だけに用意してもらった酒は「純米大吟醸 千代の梅」。この酒は１０月くらいから蔵元と打ち合わせを重ね、荷姿も特別に用意してもらい、銘柄名も既に酒蔵では使用していない物を復活してもらった。千代とは長い期間を意味し、梅は厄を除くという意味があり、正月にはピッタリの銘柄名だ。酒造りで忙しい中だったので、最初にロットを決めていたのだが、毎年恒例の特別酒が浸透していたようで、年末を待たずして売り切れてしまい急いで追加をお願いする羽目になった。その他の高級酒も早い段階で売り切れてしまい、方々に無理を言って大吟醸酒をかき集める状況になってしまったのは、長い正月休みで帰省が多かったからだろうか。２８日と２９日は新潟県の金升酒造蔵元が店頭に立ち、３０日と３１日は同じ新潟県の柏露酒造の営業が店頭に立ってくれた。前年の流れと同じ予想でバイトもお願いしていたのだが、昨年とは流れが変わっており大きく予想を外すこととなった。確かに皆が９連休ではないわけで、２８日２９日は休みだが３０日は仕事だという人も多くいたのだ。そして、３１日に来店が集中しアルバイトも急遽お願いすることとなったが、３１日の酒蔵の営業マンがデパートやアンテナショップでの販売に長けているベテランだったので、非常に助かった。気づいたら１日の売り上げとしては過去最高の数字が出ていた。年末でも曜日はギリギリまで影響することを今回は学び、年末年始は、まだまだ日本人は日本酒が飲みたいのだと実感できた。そして、当店の真向かいは町の蕎麦屋で、
年末の夜の大行列を店頭で寒さに震えながら
見たときに、あぁ、今年も１年が終わるのだなぁとしみじみ感じ、２０２５年も良い年になるといいなと寒空に願う年末販売会であった。
年末の夜の大行列を店頭で寒さに震えながら
見たときに、あぁ、今年も１年が終わるのだなぁとしみじみ感じ、２０２５年も良い年になるといいなと寒空に願う年末販売会であった。
