With the end of the year fast approaching, now’s a good time to learn about the different ways celebrating New Year’s in Japan differs from back home. There’s eating toshi-koshi soba (year-crossing buckwheat noodles) at midnight and hatsumode (the first shrine visit), but have you ever heard of the Nenmatsu Jumbo Takarakuji or Year End Jumbo Lottery? With 700 million yen as the main cash prize, here’s a brief overview of another Japanese New Year’s tradition.
Year-End Jumbo Takarakuji
Lotteries have long been a part of Japanese culture. Dating back to the 1600s, monks at temples used lottery games to maintain their temples and would award amulets to winners. Eventually, the practice was outlawed until just a few months after World War II. This reintroduction of the lottery system helped prefectures recover from the aftermath of the war.
These days, Jumbo Lotteries are one of the most popular types of lotteries. These are large-prize seasonal lotteries that run throughout the year. All you need to do is to buy lottery tickets in hopes they match the winning numbers. If it matches, then you can claim the prize money. While it sounds simple enough in theory, the odds are slim to say the least. Still, that doesn’t stop most people from trying.
There are several types of seasonal Jumbo lotteries are drawn throughout the year:
- February to March: Valentine Jumbo Lottery
- April to May: Dream Jumbo Lottery
- July to August: Summer Jumbo Lottery
- October to November: Halloween Jumbo Lottery
- Mid-November to December: Year-End Jumbo Lottery
The ticket designs change with the season, and the Year-End Jumbo Lottery ticket is no exception. Over the years, it’s slowly become a New Year’s tradition among Japanese families as a way to end and start the year on a hopeful note.
Lottery Prizes
Want to know the prize money in the past few years? Here’s a short summary.
| Prize Money | Year-end Jumbo Lottery |
| 90 million yen(1st prize: 60 million yen and 2nd and 3rd prizes: 15 million yen each) | 1987 |
| 100 million yen(1st prize: 60 million yen, 2nd and 3rd prizes: 20 million yen each) | 1989 |
| 600 million yen(1st prize: 400 million yen, 2nd and 3rd prizes: 100 million yen each) | 2012 |
| 700 million yen(1st prize: 500 million yen, 2nd and 3rd prizes: 100 million yen each) | 2013 |
| 1 billion yen(1st prize: 700 million yen, 2nd and 3rd prizes: 150 million yen each) | 2015 |
Joining the Year-End Jumbo Lottery
According to the official Takarakuji website, about 81.4% of Japanese people have purchased a lottery ticket as of 2022.
Note that the Year-End Jumbo lottery has two categories: the main lottery and the Jumbo mini. The only difference is the amount of prize money that you can potentially win. To join, there are several places to buy lottery tickets: at the nearest convenience store, online or at the official Takarakuji outlets (Lottery Chance Centers) and Mizuho Bank. There isn’t a legal age limit for joining, though generally, the minimum age is for those 20 years old and above. Each ticket typically costs ¥300.
Tickets are available until December 21, and the winning numbers are announced on New Year’s Eve. The results will be displayed in Japanese in the newspaper and the lottery outlets.
How to Claim the Prize Money
To claim the prize money, winnings of more than ¥100,000 (per drawing, per ticket) must go through Mizuho Bank. Head to the nearest lottery outlet to claim winnings below ¥100,000.
Bigger cash prizes like ¥500,000 require a photo ID. Even bigger prizes require winners to submit a photo ID and registered seal. In order to receive the money, you must bring and present the winning ticket.
You might be wondering if the prize money is taxed. Thankfully, they don’t subject the prize money to income tax. But! If you do pass down the prize money, you’ll have to deal with inheritance tax.
Have you ever tried to join Japan’s year-end jumbo lottery? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments!
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service
どこに ロト キプ ありますか 年まつ じゃうぶ いつから はじめる いつ まで。