As fewer people are traveling domestically or visiting hometowns amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a website has started selling specialty products from "antenna shops" -- stores in Tokyo and other major cities that showcase specialties from prefectures across the country.
The pandemic has caused many antenna shops in Tokyo to close or shorten their business hours, leaving them with stock to sell. The Gunma Prefecture antenna shop Gunmachan-chi had been intermittently closed and was struggling to deal with foods that have expiration dates. Thanks to the website, the shop managed to sell these items, preventing them from becoming waste, a store staff member said.
The antenna shop online shopping site, www.enjoytokyo.store, is currently in Japanese only and run by Let's Enjoy Tokyo, Inc. It started in June with goods from seven antenna shops. At the moment, there are nine shops selling 30 items, with plans for more shops selling goods online in the future.
The items include jelly made from Yubari brand melon and assorted baked corn crackers, both from Hokkaido; miso-simmered mackerel and mekabu seaweed soup from the Sanriku region; and a set of horsemeat sashimi and steak tartare from Kumamoto Prefecture.
Let's Enjoy Tokyo shared a story about a woman in her 30s in Tokyo who gave up returning to her hometown in Tochigi Prefecture. Instead, she used the online shop to send her father a set of items made in Fukui Prefecture that included rice crackers, his favorite snack. Her idea was to help her father feel, even just a bit, as if he had traveled.
The woman said she did not know much about Fukui Prefecture, but the occasion helped stoke her interest in the area and made her want to go there on a family trip someday, according to Let's Enjoy Tokyo.
"It is of great significance to let people know about the charms of regional areas," said a person in charge of the website. "We want to continue this even after the pandemic is over."
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