2023 New Year's Greeting

I would like to extend my best wishes to all of our members for the New Year 2023.
This year, as in the previous year and the year before, we started the year with a coronal disaster. While the peak of the seventh wave of Omicron strains in the summer finally showed a decreasing trend, a re-spread of infection was seen after mid-November, and we have entered a new "eighth wave" of the disease.
I am determined that each and every one of us must take preventive measures, including vaccinations, and enter the new year with the will to prevent the spread of infection and to balance social and economic activities.

Meanwhile, looking at the world, Russia's prolonged invasion of Ukraine amidst the economic recession has caused resource prices to skyrocket. Furthermore, the yen has weakened to a record low for the first time in 31 years, spurring a sharp rise in prices of food and daily necessities in Japan. There are fears that the domestic economy may slow down even further in the future.
Under these circumstances, the Society has been working in full cooperation with Katsushika City on the issuance of "Katsushika Premium Gift Certificates". Last year marked the 8th year, and we are deeply grateful for the timely issuance of these coupons to consumers in Katsushika Ward, especially with the wise decision of Mayor Aoki and the support of the Katsushika Ward Assembly on three occasions from last year to this winter. The face value of the issue this fiscal year is expected to be 2.98 billion yen, which is outstanding in Tokyo.

In order to effectively use these premium gift certificates, the Society actively collaborated with the ward to hold the "Katsushika-ku Industrial Fair" and "Katsushika Food Festa 2022" to revitalize the shopping district and the community, and also made every effort to hold three events as the "Shopping District Challenge Strategy Support Project".

The first of these was the fourth annual "Katsushika Gourmet Championship Ja Pan Cup 2022" held last February. This event was very popular, with many repeat participants. Last year, sales were about three times higher than the year before, and over 15,000 people voted by stores to determine the number one chocolate bread in Katsushika.
Second, in September, we held "Katsushika Meat Festa 2022" with the use of premium gift certificates. In addition, on the last day of September, 25 meat restaurants gathered at Shinjuku Mirai Park in the midst of taking all possible measures against Corona, and enjoyed a professional wrestling eating match and rock 'n' roll.
Third is "Katsushika Machinaka Marugoto Gourmet 2022," which was held for 17 days from Friday, October 21 to Sunday, November 6 last year. This event would not have been possible without the shopping district. With the corona infection situation stabilizing, sales of advance tickets were well received, and as many as 153 stores from all over Katsushika participated in the event.

There is no shopping district without ties to the community. We will continue to focus on what we can do for you from a front-line perspective to support your daily lives, and we will continue to work with wisdom to make Katsushika's shopping district a "place of service for the community" under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth by Katsushika City.
In conclusion, I would like to extend my best wishes for your health and prosperity in the New Year.