Takashimaya's New Year osechi pre-orders run 1.4x ahead of last year as it consolidates its range online
Takashimaya says reservations for its New Year osechi gift boxes are running about 1.4 times ahead of last year, and it has just gathered nearly its entire in-store and mail-order range — some 1,150 items — onto its online store for the first time, a bet that a rare nine-day year-end holiday will keep pulling gift-food spending forward.
Takashimaya said reservations for its 2027 New Year osechi gift-food boxes have run at roughly 1.4 times last year's pace since its first ordering window opened on 19 August, and that from 10am on 18 September its online store began carrying around 1,150 varieties — a second-phase expansion of about 1,000 items that the company says now covers almost everything sold across its physical stores and mail-order catalogue.
Takashimaya named a rare year-end holiday run of up to nine consecutive days, a continuing shift toward gathering and celebrating at home, and rising food prices making ready-made osechi a more attractive trade against cooking it at home as the drivers behind the early demand.
The expanded range spans a three-chef collaboration across Japanese, French and Chinese cuisine, a tie-in with the Minions characters, lower-sugar and lower-sodium options, smaller single-portion sets for compact households, and appetizer-style items suited to home parties, with prices the company cites running from ¥7,020 to ¥27,000. Reservations close on 25 December for most items (27 December for some), with free shipping through 9 November and delivery scheduled for 28–31 December.
Osechi is one of the few categories where a Japanese department store still comfortably outsells e-commerce generalists on both margin and occasion — it is a once-a-year purchase built on trust in a named kitchen, not price. Gathering the in-store and mail-order range onto the online store lets Takashimaya capture that early, calendar-driven demand without waiting for shoppers to visit a store, while the breadth of price points, from budget single portions to premium chef sets, gives it room to catch both a cost-conscious household and one trading up for a rare long holiday together.