Foreigners Snap Up Duty-Free Items In New Year's Sales

Above, Ginza's Mitsukoshi department store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The new duty-free benefits that foreign travelers are now getting in Japan has paid off for the most part. But stores in some areas are reporting "lackluster" sales. Snow is being blamed for some of this.

According to the Asahi Shimbun:

Foreign tourists snapped up duty-free items in New Year's sales at outlets of the nation's four top department store operators during the first three days of 2015, but overall, trade was fairly lackluster. 

“Many foreign tourists said they came to Japan for New Year's sales,” said a public relations spokesperson for Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co. 

The store operators released their figures on Jan. 5.

 To read more, go here.