Thousands line up for hours to buy year-end lottery tickets
TOKYO —
Year-end jumbo lottery tickets went on sale across Japan on Monday. The top prize this year is 600 million yen.
As usual, the biggest line was at Tokyo’s Nishi-Ginza where more than 1,000 people were lined up when the booth opened at 8:30 a.m. The first man in line said he had been waiting since last Friday. He purchased 2,500 tickets.
Throughout the day, the waiting time at the booth was 90 minutes. Long lines could still be seen at night.
The Nishi-Ginza booth is popular because it has sold a number of winning tickets in the past. Lottery tickets will be sold nationwide through Dec 21 and winners will be announced on Dec 31.
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21 Comments
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0
Serrano
"The first man in line... purchased 2,500 tickets"
Surely one of them will be the winner, ha ha!
1
Stephen Knight
Lunkheads.
We go through this every year--it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, folks! It's got nothing to do with your individual chances of winning!
But people who buy lottery tickets are probably more than a little superstitious; what can one more bit of imagined luck hurt? At least winnings here are tax free, even if the amounts are smaller.
1
6wings
Weeeee! Time to pay the idiot tax!
-1
bilderberg_2015
2500 tickets at ¥300 a pop! Jesus.
-2
Weasel
I'll stick with the mathematically challenged form of gambling in the US - the Powerball Lotto.
-2
gogogo
What a rip off, the jackpots for the population in Japan is so out of sync, the lotto companies take 75% for themselves.
11
cierzo98
You can criticise it and make fun of those who buy tickets, but where is the harm in it? Is it worse than buying cigarettes? I think the guy who bought 2,500 tickets is probably in need of a reality check, but for goodness sake - you can buy one ticket for the price of a cup of coffee and forget about it. It priovides a bit of excitement on the day, and someone wins. It is highly unlikely that it will be you - the odds are so miniscule - but the person who does win was in the same situation and wasn't expecting it either. It gives some people, who are worrying about money,a bit of optimism and it causes no harm. So if you think it's stupid don't do it, but better not to criticise those who do. It's just as much a waste of time and money to watch dumbed down TV, or do anything temporary that has no lasting result, and we all do some of that from time to time.
1
nandakandamanda
My wife says the chances are so slim that it's not worth it, just throwing money away, but I say the chances of a traffic accident are pretty slim too. If you don't drive/buy then you don't open up that opportunity for a different form of serendipity into your life.
The guy who bought 2,500 tickets was probably buying for a group of friends, BTW.
Last night someone was telling me about a medical worker at her hospital who has Asperger's. He is exceptionally bright in certain areas, and one of his theories is a system for winning at scratchcards, the explanation for which no-one else can understand. Using his calculations, he recently won 3 million JPY apparently.
Anyway, I will buy 30 tickets for this lottery. You usually get back 300 yen for every 3,000 yen pack of ten, a clever idea to get the customer to come back to the window to claim... and maybe even buy some more. Wish me luck, gentle JT readers!
-2
Scrote
Seems a bit daft queuing up since Friday when tickets are on sale for four weeks.
2
taj
". It priovides a bit of excitement on the day,"
I always buy 10 tickets. The money goes to good causes so I don't mind the annual fee of 2700 yen. What do I get it return?
I don't check my tickets until I'm ready to buy the next years ones. That way, I am carrying around the possibility that I have won, for almost a year. I savour the faint hope all year long. A couple of times, I've been on the verge of telling off a boss, but instead I think, Hmmm. Perhaps I should check my tickets today at lunch and if I've won enough to live off for at least a year,.... ). And my blood pressure drops and I keep my cool until later.
2
some14some
exactly, exactly.
0
Waxman
Well we live in an independent country and people have their own pocket and choice to buy one ticket or 2500 tickets! In Maths we have a term called probability which is being ignored here while critisizing a person buying 2500 tickets. For sure that does not guarantee him first prize but still that gives him better chance. Anyway, as per my opinion, it a good excitement for small amount of money and you dont know when u become a millionare, addiction to gambling is bad though! I buy 20~30 tickets every season but good luck still to come....lol
0
2020hindsights
I don't think people are criticizing people for buying lottery tickets. I'm not. I'll take a punt every now and then. But not too much money.
But to go to a particular shop in Ginza because it has sold more winning tickets is plain stupid. One is that how many tickets it has sold will not mean it will sell more. And, two because everybody does there, of course it will sell more winning tickets (they aren't talking winning %age). Stupid.
0
Serrano
My ticket will be the winner. I can feel it...
0
Livvie
I think the guy that bought 2,500 tickets was from the resort spa "Hawaiians" in Fukushima. Saw it briefly on the news. They didn't show a full interview but he said that he and the other staff at Hawaiians were buying the tickets to boost morale (and possibly help the spa get back on its feet?)
0
nandakandamanda
Well, having read this article and other readers' comments, and having added my own comments, I felt compelled to go out and buy 30 of these very tickets! A present to myself for the year-end? Plus 10 scratchcards to boot. (Won 200 yen on a scratch.) The most I've ever won was 3,000 JPY. Hmmm... maybe I should choose a luckier booth?
1
Serrano
Actually the top prize isn't 600 million, it's only 400 million. You have to have the winning number, plus the next lower and the next higher numbers, which are worth 100 million each, for a total of 600 million. I bought only 1 ticket, so I'll either win 400 million or 100 million. I'll be satisfied with either, heh heh.
0
sighclops
Great! If I win, I'll finally be able to afford the extortionate national health insurance! Yippee!
0
JohnBecker
yawn
The current Powerball lottery jackpot in the U.S. is over $450 million. I bought one ticket.
0
nonsibi
Yes, I bought a powerball ticket. I have to buy a ticket at least, to establish the possibility to win the jackpot :)
-2
Scrote
You don't need to buy a ticket: you might find the winning ticket in the street. The probability of winning isn't that much different and you save Y300.
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