Photo/Illutration Ryohei Ohtani in a Los Angeles Angels uniform promotes a 44,000-yen set of 44 bottles of sake and wine at Matsuya Co.’s Ginza store. (Yoko Masuda)

Department stores are trying to entice shoppers with New Year’s lucky grab bags featuring “bargain-priced” goods, including gold and food products, both of which are attractive in times of inflation.

Matsuya Co.’s Ginza store will sell a set of 44 bottles of sake and wine in honor of Los Angeles Angels’ superstar Shohei Ohtani, who won the American League home run crown last season with 44 home runs.

Ryohei Ohtani, who is in charge of Japanese and Western liquor products at the store, came up with the playful offer.

His name shares three of the four kanji characters with the two-way baseball sensation.

He mixed sake and wine out of respect to Ohtani’s feats both on the mound and at the plate.

Only one bag, worth 80,000 yen ($532), will be available for 44,000 yen, including tax.

A shopper who beats Ryohei Ohtani in a game of rock-paper-scissors on Jan. 3, the first business day of the year, will win the right to buy it.

The department store will also sell 100 bags that allow buyers to win an assortment of food items by turning a capsule vending machine.

While the bag will be priced at 3,000 yen, the food items will be worth between 4,000 yen and 12,000 yen.

“We want to respond to people’s desire for good food at a good price,” a store official said.

Due to the popularity of gold, whose price has been rising, Tobu Department Store Co. will sell a bag containing a large coin, an “ochoshi” sake bottle and sake cups, all made of pure gold, for 20.24 million yen.

The buyer will be selected by lottery. Applications can be made on the website or in stores after December. 

In response to a sauna boom, Takashimaya Co. will sell a mobile sauna that can be carried on a small truck or other vehicle and enjoyed freely outdoors for 2.2 million yen by lottery.

The Seibu Ikebukuro main store, which will open from New Year’s Day, will sell a 2,024-yen “subscription” bag that allows buyers to have their fortune read by a fortuneteller for one month.

Another bag, priced at 20,240 yen, will allow buyers to experience being the stationmaster at nearby Seibu Ikebukuro Station. The numbers of both bags are limited. 

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