"Shoppers Being Inconvenienced Is Nothing Next to Workers Being Miserable": Japan Is Closing Its Shops for New Year Again

What Japanese people said — picked from the top 200 of 586 comments

• I work in a supermarket, and opening on 1 January is honestly brutal. You get through the biggest sales push of the year and then they won't even give you the next day off. What do they think their staff are?

  スーパーで働いてますが、元日営業はさすがに鬼畜すぎ。年内最大の年末商戦乗り切って、その翌日休ませないとか従業員を何だと思ってるんだと思う

  — @ジュン-e6v332 likes

• I think that's the right call. Let's live like human beings.

  それがいいと思うよ。 人間らしい生活をしましょうよ

  — @夕焼け番長-d3w326 likes

• I wish Aeon would close. If they closed I wouldn't have to take the family there. I want to drink and sleep through New Year.

  イオン休んでくれんかな…休んでくれれば家族を連れていく必要がなくなるのに…。 酒を飲んで寝正月したい。

  — @緒方湊294 likes

• Stop working through New Year. If everyone puts up with a little less shopping, everyone gets a little more happiness.

  正月まで働くなよ。 買い物とかみんなが少しずつ我慢すればみんなの幸せが少しずつ増えるんだよ。

  — @ムン太郎-d6s264 likes

• I liked the quiet New Year we used to have. At least at New Year, let's all stay home and sleep.

  昔の静かな正月が好きだったな。 正月ぐらいはみんな家で寝よう

  — @ぽんすけ-w3o190 likes

• This is genuinely a good trend. I work in restaurants, which is a black industry day in and day out, and I'd love the labour inspectors, who never do anything, to make surprise visits to the places that stay open over New Year.

  ほんとに良い傾向だと思う 常日頃ブラックな飲食店員ですが常日頃仕事しない労基職員は年末年始営業してるお店に抜き打ちで立ち入り検査行ってくれと思う

  — @エースン184 likes

• When I worked part-time in clothing retail I had to go in for the new year sale, and my family said, why are you going out to work at New Year when we're all finally together? I remember leaving the house feeling hollow about it. Let's all rest at New Year.

  アパレルでバイトしてたとき初売り出ないといけなくて、家族から、なんで正月も働きに出るのよ、せっかくみんな集まってるのにって言われてなんか家出るのに虚しさを感じながら出勤したのを思い出します。。正月くらいみんな休みましょう

  — @mk-my5hf144 likes

• I work part-time in an Aeon food court and it's genuinely so busy that I want them to close.

  イオンのフードコートでバイトしてるけどほんとに忙しいから休業してほしい

  — @matchatcha_4869110 likes

• Aeon: "The New Year period is our biggest earning window of the year, so we open every single day." I work part-time at Aeon, and in the end we did get 31 December and 1 January off. Still, if you think about staff health and work-life balance, closing on 1 January at least would be fine.

  イオン「年末年始は、1年で一番の稼ぎ時なので休まずに毎日営業します。」 私はイオンでアルバイトをしていますが、大晦日と元日は休みとなりました。ただ、従業員のワークライフバランスや健康を考えたら、元日くらい休業にしてもいいのではないかと思います。

  — @hinanakamura0905103 likes

• It's fine for some shops to open at New Year, but they should be required to pay a premium rate, even to part-timers, plus paid leave to make up for the day worked, the kind you're breaking the law by not using. Then more people would want the shifts and shoppers could still shop. Win-win.

  正月も開店する店があってもいいけど、出勤した人にはバイトであっても割り増し賃金+出勤した分を有給（使わないと違法）を義務化してほしい それなら出勤したいと思う人も増えるだろうし、消費者も買い物ができてwin-win

  — @やまりすと79 likes

• I think closing every shop on 1 January would be fine. Not a public holiday, but a day when the whole of Japan rests.

  元日は全店休みで良いかと思う。祝日ではなく、｢日本全体が休む日｣に変えて欲しい。

  — @ryoshibata876576 likes

• I'm 56 now, and when I was a child closing was simply what everyone did. It's good for staff morale too. I'm all for it.

  自分(現在56歳)ら子供の頃は休業は当たり前でしたけどねー。社員さんのモチベーション向上にも繋がるし。良いと思います。

  — @隆岡田-y4s76 likes

• I work at an Aeon supermarket too. The other supermarkets around us are shut for all three days. We open from the 1st, just on shorter hours. Obviously the store is packed. They know perfectly well it'll be punishing and there's no special allowance for it. I think we work for a company that's behind the times.

  私もイオンのスーパーで働いてるけど周りのスーパーは三が日全部休み うちは営業時間短縮だけど1日から営業 当たり前だけど店内は混み混み 激務になるのは分かってるはずなのに特別手当などなし。 時代遅れの会社だと思ってます

  — @じょじょるの-z4h70 likes

• Exactly. Department stores used to be closed for the first three days as well. With the falling population and the labour shortage, it's inconvenient for us as shoppers, but I think it's fine for them to close at New Year.

  そうそう！昔はデパートも三賀日はお休みでした。人口減少・人手不足の昨今、消費者としては不便ですが、お正月は休まれていいと思います。

  — @白文鳥-j4i60 likes

• It would be lovely if everyone could rest, but the most important thing is that your time off works because somebody else is moving. Let's not forget to be grateful. The electricity? The water? Who runs the systems while you're gaming? The television? Sleeping through New Year? Not touching your phone? Somebody is doing something for you. And don't forget that some people want the work.

  みんな休めれば幸せだけど、1番大切なことは、誰かが動いてくれてるから、その休みが充実するってこと。 感謝を忘れないようにしたいですね。 電気は？水道は？ ゲームするにもシステム管理は？ テレビは？ 寝正月？携帯いじってない？ 誰かが何かしてくれてる。 働きたい人もいるって事実も忘れちゃいけない。

  — @れいと-d4n48 likes

• Yaoko in Saitama apparently closes on the 1st and 2nd 😊

  埼玉のヤオコーは元日と2日は休むそうです😊

  — @たまてばこのはこ22 likes

• It's easier now that we have convenience stores, but in the old days everything from the corner shop to the supermarkets to the department stores closed for New Year, so anyone who worked right up to the end of the year was in trouble.

  今はコンビニがあるからマシだが、昔は正月に個人商店からスーパー、デパートまで休むから年内ギリギリで仕事していた人は困ったんだよね。

  — @左思-e9j18 likes

• That's what osechi is for, as far as I'm concerned, so everyone in customer-facing work, please take the time off!

  そのためのおせちだと思ってるから、接客業の皆さん休んで！

  — @サンサン-v3d47 likes

• I stock up at the end of December so I don't have to shop during the first three days. I don't think they need to force themselves to open, though it's true there are people who want the shifts and the money.

  年末に買いだめして、三が日は買い物に行かない様にしています。 無理して開店しなくて良いと思いますが、出勤して稼ぎたい人も居るのは確かですね。

  — @tama_10112 likes

• It's fine by me. If there's something you want to buy, go to a konbini. That said, the pay is higher over New Year, so there'll always be a certain number of people who want to work. I hope it goes well for them. I piled on the shifts over New Year when I was a student myself.

  良いんじゃない、買いたいものあるんならコンビニ行けよって話でね ただ、年末年始は時給が高いので、仕事したい人は一定数いると思う こういう人はお仕事頑張ってほしいって思うよ 自分も学生時代は年末年始無茶苦茶バイト入ったからねｗ

  — @hari777hari2 likes

• SaveAeon / Aeon Style↗イオン

  The chain the thread argues over, and the one a visitor can most often count on. Commenters who work there say head office treats the New Year period as the biggest earning window of the year, though one part-timer says their own store did give 31 December and 1 January off (103 likes).

• SaveLife↗ライフ

  Closed 1 to 3 January for 2026 across the Tokyo and Kansai regions except for five branches inside malls and commercial buildings.

  Sources: gekiryu-online.jp — checked 2026-08-24

• SaveSummit Store↗サミットストア

  Announced that it would close every Summit Store for the first three days of January 2026, with a few mall branches excepted. A commenter calls the Summit and Life decision the sensible one (3 likes).

  Sources: prtimes.jp — checked 2026-08-24

• SaveYaoko↗ヤオコー

  The Saitama chain a commenter singles out for taking 1 and 2 January off (22 likes). For 2026 it closed for the first three days of January along with Life and Summit.

  Sources: gekiryu-online.jp — checked 2026-08-24

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

Is everything closed in Japan during New Year?

No, but more is closed every year, and the trend is going the wrong way for visitors. For the 2026 New Year, Life, Yaoko and Summit all shut their supermarkets for 1 to 3 January apart from a handful of branches inside shopping malls, while Aeon kept opening, which is exactly the split the thread argues about. Convenience stores are the reliable fallback, and small independent restaurants and shops are the most likely to be shut for all three days.

Sources: gekiryu-online.jp · prtimes.jp — checked 2026-08-24

When do Japanese department stores reopen after New Year?

Almost all of them close on 1 January, and a growing number now close 2 January as well. Isetan Shinjuku, Mitsukoshi and most Takashimaya branches start their hatsuuri new year sale on 2 January, while much of Daimaru, Sogo and Seibu waits until 3 January. Nihombashi Takashimaya and the Hankyu and Hanshin flagships in Osaka closed both 1 and 2 January for 2026, and Tobu closed two days in a row for the first time in 49 years.

Sources: departshinbun.com · news.yahoo.co.jp — checked 2026-08-24

Are convenience stores open on New Year's Day in Japan?

Overwhelmingly yes. The big chains run as normal through the holiday and the great majority of stores stay 24 hours, which is why several people in the thread say that if you want something, go to a konbini. A small and slowly growing number of franchise, station and small regional stores now close on 1 January or cut their hours, so the one near your hotel is worth checking rather than assuming.

Sources: news.yahoo.co.jp — checked 2026-08-24

Why did Japanese shops start opening at New Year in the first place?

Several people in the thread date it to the boom years: one 56-year-old says closing was simply normal when they were a child (76 likes), another remembers supermarkets running 9:00 to 22:00 with the first three days off, and one points out that osechi, the boxed New Year food, exists because nothing was open and families had to keep food that lasted (13 likes). The current reversal is being driven by staffing, which is what the report itself is about.