I decided to go to Soup Stock Tokyo for lunch today. I basically had two reasons, to get some food since I was hungry, but also to force myself outside and go for a bit of a walk. On these gray, chilly, winter days, it is very easy to simply do nothing. Lately I’ve been “recharging my batteries†and plan to continue to do so. Or, in other words, I have been exceedingly lazy by plan. I haven’t touched work and don’t plan on it until I get back in the office. So to get out, see humanity, and get some food seemed like a good idea.
It is chilly, but not freezing, so it was no problem walking to La Chic shopping center to get to the soup place. The streets to the Sakae area of Nagoya were not very busy, so I thought the holiday weekend might be keeping people at home. Once I got to La Chic, I noticed that there was a special line just to get in to United Arrows. Perhaps I had misjudged the crowd. Then at Soup Stock Tokyo, there was a long line as well. Apparently everyone wanted soup.
After eating, I thought I’d walk around La Chic to see what the fuss was all about. The entire shopping center was packed and there were special routes on and off the escalator.
That’s when I remembered and discovered that it is Lucky Bag season. I noticed that last year as well. You never know what is inside a “Lucky Bag.†Sure, there might be some nice things, but are they nice things I want or need?
Also, traditionally, there are many big sales in the period as well. It is traditional to clean your dwelling at the end of the year, so with all the newly found storage space, perhaps it is just as important to fill that space up again.
What I forget, when judging crowds in Nagoya by sidewalk congestion, is that there is an immense network of underground passages from subway and train stations to shopping areas. I bet many of the people I saw in the shop never actually set foot outside. So whatever I see above ground on a cold day, a wet day, or a hot and humid day I probably need to double or triple.