Only two days left for this year.
The Ameyoko shopping street in Ueno, Tokyo, is crowded with people buying ingredients for the New Year, and the number of customers is expected to recover to nearly 90% of what it was before the corona crisis.
Ameyoko shopping street has 370 shops along a street of about 500 meters, and from the morning of the 30th it was crowded with many shoppers looking to buy ingredients for the New Year.
As the spread of the new corona continues, the staff in the shopping district called for wearing masks, disinfecting, and walking as far as possible.
In the shopping district, the number of customers dropped last year, and the number of people in the five days from December 27th was about 1.1 million, but this year it is expected to recover to about 1.5 million, which is nearly 90% of the number before the corona disaster. .
However, due to the effects of high prices and the weak yen, the purchase price of kazunoko and salmon roe, which are used in osechi dishes at seafood stores, has risen by about 20% compared to the same period last year. It means that they are struggling to deal with such things as reducing the amount.
The owner, Ken Mochimaru, said, "This year was a tumultuous year. I hope next year will be a year without corona, weak yen, and war."
Hayato Chiba, vice chairman of the Ameyoko Shopping District Federation, said, "I'm really grateful that the same number of people came as before Corona. The store suffered from the effects of high prices this year, but next year it will be even more lively. I hope so,' he said.