Otoshidama Deflation?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iandeth/ / CC BY 2.0

While Christmas is becoming more popular in Japan, it's not usually customary for family members to exchange gifts. Don't worry though, Japanese kids are not left out of the holiday gift spirit in the least. Enter the otoshidama. During the New Year's celebrations parents, relatives, and friends stuff cold hard cash into small envelopes and present them to the children, usually upwards of 20-years of age. For some lucky ones, the tradition continues into adulthood.

With the recent economic climate, you'd expect that the amount of this year's monetary gifts would be reduced. Surprisingly, according to a recent online survey by SBI Net Bank, this is not the case. Let's check out the headline as published on Yahoo! Japan (12/14/2009):

お年玉はデフレ知らず？「減らない」9割、平均総額1万８０００円

Otoshidama wa defure shirazu? "Heranai" 9-wari, heikin sougaku 1 man 8000 en.

Here's a little bit of vocabulary:

• お年玉 (おとしだま, otoshidama) - monitary gifts given during New Year's
• デフレ (defure) - (economic) deflation
• 知らず (shirazu) - not being affected
  
• 減る (へる, heru) - to decrease
• 割 (わり, wari) - a percentage based on 10, 9割 = 90%
• 平均総額 (へいきん・そうがく, heikin sougaku) - average total amount

Basically this headline can be directly translated as, "Otoshidama knows no deflation? 90% "no decrease," average total amount 18,000 yen." If we expand this headline, it would be more like: "Next year's otoshidama (gifts) will not be affected by deflation. 90% surveyed stated, 'no decrease in amount,' with the average total gift amount being 18,000 yen."

The article goes on to describe SBI's survey in more detail. Some of the more interesting figures are that while 69% stated no decrease in the amount that will be given, 21% stated that the otoshidama amount they will give will increase. 63% of those people cited a rise in age of the recipients as the reason for the increase. On average, those surveyed give otoshidama to 3.66 children and shell out a total of 17,999 yen.

Giving otoshidama is one of the great New Year's traditions in Japan, and while everything from jeans to bento lunches are experiencing major price deflation, it's nice to know that for at least some lucky kids, their otoshidama will not suffer in this depressed economy.