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Shoppers buy "Lucky Bags" at Mitsukoshi department store, in Tokyo Japan on January 2, 2009.
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Forget the recession, at least for now in Japan, where it's time for some mystery New Year's shopping designed to cast off the economic gloom.
Thousands of shoppers queued for hours in front of department stores across Japan on Friday to buy limited-edition, traditional New Year's "goodie" bags in what has become one of the biggest events of the holiday season.
The so-called Lucky Bags are priced between 10,000 yen ($110) and 30,000 yen, and are completely sealed, with nothing to indicate the contents.
But experienced shoppers know that they are often filled with fashionable accessories and clothes at a substantial discount, which makes them especially desirable during the current financial crisis.
In Tokyo's glitzy Ginza shopping district, excited shoppers dashed inside the Mitsukoshi department store to grab over 20,000 lucky bags.
"There's this excitement before you open your bag, then comes the surprise and some degree of disappointment, but most of the time I'm happy with what I get," said Hisayo Kuwabara, a 52-year-old part-time worker.
Some shoppers sought to banish the economic gloom with these festive bags.
"Though the economy is worsening, I wanted to buy some lucky bags because it is sold at a discounted price. I also wanted to get some luck in this recession," said Eiichi Kakegawa, a 47-year-old businessman.
Takashi Masuko, director of "Lucky Bags" operations at Mitsukoshi, said the yearly shopping extravaganza is especially popular this year.
"People tend to buy more Lucky Bags during a recession," he said.
"We've been preparing for this day since last August, and since we were expecting some recession ahead, we changed the volume and items of our bags to better satisfy our customers at times like this."
The economy appears set for a gloomy 2009 in Japan, as firms cut their outlooks and industrial output slumps.
Most economists say a recovery in Japan will have to wait until global demand picks up. Some say that will not happen until the final quarter of next year, at the earliest.
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(Agencies)
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先別去想什么經濟危機了，至少現在在日本可以這樣。為了驅散經濟危機的陰霾，日本商家在新年之際推出了一種神秘的購物方式。
周五，日本各大百貨商場門前排滿了人，數千名購物者排隊等候數小時，搶購“限量版“的新年“幸運包”。這項傳統的搶購新年“幸運包”活動成為今年日本規模最大的假日活動之一。
新年“幸運包（Lucky Bag）”每個售價在1萬（110美元）至3萬日元之間，并且完全密封，從外部包裝上根本看不出里面裝的是什么。
但有經驗的人都知道這些“幸運包”里通常裝的是折扣很多的時尚服飾和單品，這在眼下的經濟危機時期尤其“誘人”。
當天，在東京繁華的銀座購物中心，興奮的購物大軍沖進新光百貨商場搶購2萬多只幸運包。
52歲的兼職工人Hisayo Kuwabara說：“在打開幸運包之前，你會有這樣一種興奮感，打開包之后，你又會感到驚喜，或者有點失望，但多數時候我都很開心。”
一些購物者則希望用這些節日幸運包來驅散經濟危機的陰霾。
47歲的生意人Eiichi Kakegawa說：“雖然眼下經濟不景氣，但我還是想買一些幸運包，因為折扣很多。我還希望自己能交些好運。”
新光商場“幸運包”課負責人Takashi Masuko說，今年的活動尤為受歡迎。
他說：“在經濟衰退期，人們往往會購買更多的幸運包。”
“我們從去年8月份就開始準備了，因為當時預想到可能會出現經濟衰退，所以我們在幸運包的量和品種上都做了些調整，以便在這樣的時期更好地滿足顧客的需要。”
眼下日本國內企業前景暗淡，工業總產量下跌，2009年的經濟前景不容樂觀。
多數經濟學家稱，日本經濟的復蘇須等到全球需求增長的恢復。一些專家預測，這最早得到明年的最后一季度。
（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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