Takashimaya puts its Yuko Higuchi Christmas line behind an app-only lottery
Takashimaya is selling this year's illustrator Yuko Higuchi Christmas tote only through a lottery open solely to its app members, turning a seasonal collectible into a reason to sign up for the department store's app.
Takashimaya Co., Ltd. said it will again sell a Christmas collection designed by illustrator Yuko Higuchi, running at its stores from November 11 to December 25, with the marquee items -- a tote bag and a chocolate assortment -- available only to members of the Takashimaya app.
A tote decided by lottery, a chocolate box by speed
The tote bag comes in two 2026 designs -- a forward-facing cat called "RED" and a "PINK" design built from characters that appeared in last year's Nihonbashi Takashimaya window display -- each priced at ¥6,270 and limited to one per design per customer. Entries are accepted through the app from November 11 to 15, winners are announced around November 24, and purchases run from November 25 to December 1, either online or in store (excluding the Yonago, Nagoya and Iyotetsu branches); in-store buyers must pay with a Takashimaya debit or credit card issued in their own name. The chocolate assortment -- 36 pieces across ten varieties in a tin that Higuchi also designed, priced at ¥3,780 and capped at two per customer -- instead goes on sale first-come, online only, from 10:00 on November 11, with no gift-wrapping or delivery option.
Higuchi said she again drew a cat in a Santa costume, as she did the previous year, and that she was glad the wreath artwork from last year's campaign had found a second life on the chocolate tin -- one of the few lines in the release attributed directly to her.
A second, smaller window, and a spending-triggered gift
A separate, first-come reservation round for both the tote and the chocolate box is open to app members at the Yokohama and Kyoto stores only, with reservation details posted on those stores' own websites from November 18 ahead of a sale on December 9 from 10:30 to 19:00, capped at one tote plus one chocolate box per customer. Beyond the two headline products, Takashimaya is also giving away a Higuchi-designed paper ornament, about 12cm across, first-come to cardholders and app members who spend ¥5,500 or more in a single transaction at eligible sections, in two phases from November 11 and December 4 until stock runs out, plus a Higuchi-designed shopping bag with any purchase at eligible sections from November 11, also while supplies last.
Every route to these items -- the lottery, the first-come chocolate sale, the Yokohama and Kyoto reservation, even the ornament and shopping-bag giveaways -- runs through the Takashimaya app or a Takashimaya-issued card. Gating a well-known illustrator's name behind a free membership sign-up is a cheap way to convert a seasonal collectible into an app download: the chocolate and tote don't need to sell out to do their job if enough shoppers open the app just to enter.