VOX POPULI: Fall of department stores cheapens society

The sight of excited customers lining up to buy fukubukuro (sealed "lucky bags" of discounted goods sold by Japanese stores at New Year) is still fresh in our minds. At every department store, the crowds were so big that there was plenty of pushing and shoving.

But columnist Yukichi Amano presented a biting view in the vernacular Asahi Shimbun's "CM Tenkizu" (CM weather chart) column. He quoted an acquaintance: "It is not that lucky bags are selling well. The fact is that lucky bags are the only product that sells well."

Amano's observations were acute. "People who buy lucky bags are not buying products. They are paying for the act of buying lucky bags," he wrote. It appears department stores only recover their festive atmosphere during the New Year lucky bag season.

Amid continued deflation, the department stores are trading in a bleak environment. Inundated by cheap competition, the industry recorded its lowest sales in 24 years last year.

One after another, department stores across the country are closing. Even in Tokyo's Ginza district, the Yurakucho outlet of Seibu department store in the landmark Yurakucho Mullion complex is to close its doors.

It was 53 years ago that the tune "Yurakucho de Aimasho" (Let's meet in Yurakucho), sung by Frank Nagai (1932-2008) in his well-known deep voice, became a major hit. The song was used in a promotional campaign for Sogo department store's Yurakucho outlet, which opened in 1957.

Times have changed. That building is now occupied by a major home electronics retailer. In 2008, a monument to the song was erected in front of the Mullion complex.

Shopping is not simply an act of exchanging money for a product. It also has to do with feelings of expectation, satisfaction and the joy of going home carrying a package. It ties consumers with those who made and sold the products.

Come to think of it, shopping is full of interest. It makes me sad that, recently, it seems to have lost that richness.

A tanka poem by Kyoko Kuriki reads: A 100-yen shop opens in a department store/ Eventually, the department store could also be sold here.

Goods are sold at such low prices that it makes me worry whether the people who produce them can make ends meet. It is also hard for buyers of such products to see hope beyond the cheapness.

The feeling that society and livelihoods are shrinking enshrouds the archipelago in the winter.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 28

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.