'64 Billion Won First Prize' Jumbo Lottery Winner Is Me?... Exciting Year-End [Sunday Culture]

Interest in December year-end Jumbo Lottery... Crowds Gather at 'Myeongdang'
Illuminations Throughout the City Center... Sending Greetings with New Year's Cards

Before we know it, the year is coming to an end. It seems quite difficult to get into the year-end mood, but is everyone wrapping things up well? Since this series introduces the culture of our neighboring country Japan, today I would like to introduce the year-end scenes in Japan.

Japan is excited about the year-end Jumbo Lottery during this period. The Jumbo Lottery is sold only five times a year during specific periods such as Halloween and year-end. The year-end Jumbo Lottery, sold for exactly one month from late November to late December, is very popular because it offers the largest prize money. The winners are announced every year on December 31st. This year, it was sold from the 20th to the 21st of last month. Winning this would surely be the warmest way to end the year and start the new one.

Year-end Jumbo Lottery promotional image in Japan. Jumbo Takarakuji website.

This year’s year-end Jumbo Lottery first prize is 700 million yen (6,465,830,000 KRW). There will be 23 first prize winners who will take home 700 million yen each. One difference between the Jumbo Lottery and our country’s lottery is the existence of the “first prize adjacent prize” before the second prize. The Jumbo Lottery has a group number called “jo (組)” as the initial number, and individuals choose a 6-digit number. If five digits match the first prize number in the same group and the last digit is either one less or one more than the first prize number, it is given as a near-miss prize. For example, if the first prize number is “Group 190, 12345,” then “12344” or “12346” in Group 190 would be the adjacent prize. This year’s adjacent prize is 150 million yen (1,385,530,000 KRW). If you bought consecutive numbers at the end, you could sweep both the first prize and the adjacent prize, literally hitting the jackpot.

Because of this, there are also “lucky lottery spots” like in our country. Around the time the year-end lottery is sold, long lines form at the “Nishi Ginza Chance Center” located in Ginza. It is the most famous year-end lottery spot, and over 500 people have become billionaires there in the 60 years since it opened. It is well known that buying at window number 1, where many high-value winners come from, increases your chances of winning.

Above all, foreigners can also purchase the lottery and there are no restrictions on how to claim the prize, so if you are planning to visit Japan, trying your luck with the Jumbo Lottery might be fun.

So, what about the street scenes? In Japan, illumination events are held during this period where various lights are turned on in the streets. Large trees and lights are installed in places with many visitors such as department stores. This year, there seemed to be many decorations with a Super Mario concept. In areas like Marunouchi in Tokyo, lights are hung on street trees to brighten the streets, and there are street busking performances and food trucks, making it half about enjoying the scenery and half about people watching.

Tokyo Marunouchi Illumination panorama. Walkerplus website.

Also, stationery stores and fancy shops sell New Year’s greeting cards and money envelopes for the New Year’s gift money (sebaetdon), many of which feature the zodiac animal of the new year, making them fun to look at. New Year’s greeting cards are postcards used to express gratitude to people around you for the past year. Unlike in our country, where people mainly send thanks and New Year greetings via phone or messenger, in Japan it is characteristic to send them directly to the recipient’s home by mail. Usually, the post office sets a submission period from mid to late December to ensure all cards are sent out on January 1st. The content varies by person, but for business people or office workers, writing these cards is considered another task. On the internet, such as Yahoo Japan, there are many examples and templates of greeting cards tailored to the recipient.

There are even New Year’s card applications (apps) that allow you to create and send cards from your smartphone or tablet. These apps offer various designs and templates and connect to home printers or convenience store printers for printing. Nowadays, many people edit and create image files to send New Year’s cards via SNS as well. Also, since 2025 is the Year of the Snake, many cards feature cute illustrations of a white snake coiled up.

Example provided by a Japanese New Year's card application (app). SFIDANTE.

I have introduced some of the year-end scenes in Japan. It seems that expressing gratitude and sharing feelings with those around you at the end of the year is not much different between our country and our neighboring country.

Thank you to all the readers who have subscribed to “日요일日 Culture” this year. This series has already entered its second year. If you hear stories like “Is this really true?” or if you are curious and want us to cover certain topics about cultural differences between Korea and Japan, please feel free to send us an email. We will investigate and organize the information as much as possible. There have been many events this year. Everyone has worked very hard. Wishing you a Happy New Year.