[Toka Ebisu] Ebessan's business model is amazing!

This is Haraoka from Beyond.

This time I'm going to talk about Toka Ebisu Tsunen Bessan.

At Beyond, we have been visiting Ebessan every year since our founding.

■What is Ebessan?

Ebisusha Festival is held on January 10th and the 9th and 11th days before and after January 10th. The common name is " Ebessan ". Around January 10th, pilgrims pray for the prosperity of business by worshiping the god Ebisu (Ebisu-sama) , Common in western Japan

What is Toka Ebisu? - Hatena Keywords

Surprisingly, it is not known outside of Kansai, so I will introduce how it works.

Imamiya Ebisu Shrine in Osaka and Nishinomiya Shrine in Hyogo are particularly famous for Ebessan.

■Nishinomiya Shrine

Nishinomiya Ebisu is famous for the race to decide the second son every year.

Something like this↓

Imamiya Ebisu Shrine

Beyond is based in Osaka, so I go to Imamiya Ebisu Shrine every year.

This Imamiya Ebisu is a god of business, so it's amazing how he continues to visit it every year.

Mechanism ① Cheerful BGM

When you enter Imamiya Ebisu, cheerful background music plays.

“Business is prosperous and bamboo is perfect.”

This music and the enthusiasm in the precincts make me excited to do it again this year.

Mechanism ② Freemium model

In Ebessan, as the background music says, you will receive lucky bamboo at the shrine. You can receive this lucky bamboo for free, but since it is just bamboo as it is, you will need to buy a lucky bamboo decoration called kitcho This is what we now call a freemium model.

Lucky bamboo ⇒ Initial equipment

Bamboo decoration ⇒ Paid reinforcement item

In other words, you will purchase items and bamboo decorations to strengthen your initial equipment, Lucky Bamboo. These bamboo decorations start at 1,500 yen each, and if you buy 3 or 4 of them, you'll get a reasonable price.

meaning of decoration

It is a bundle of lucky charms such as a coin, a money bag, a Suehiro, a small coin, a silver coin, an eboshi, a mortar, a gavel, a rice bag, and a sea bream. It symbolizes the happiness of the people.

See Imamiya Ebisu Shrine website

Mechanism ③ Idol-like elements

Every year, 50 lucky girls are selected at Imamiya Ebisu Shrine. Auditions are held every year, and when a lucky girl is selected, it is widely covered in the news and newspapers. The girls in Fukumusume are all cute, and it seems like they are an idol group whose members keep changing. These lucky girls will serve as billboards, but the cost-effectiveness seems to be quite high. I went to visit the shrine again and picked out some bamboo grass, which seemed to bring good fortune to this child! You choose a person to wear a bamboo decoration, and the act of buying it from your favorite fukumusume also becomes an element of idol support.

Mechanism ④ Secret trick

Furthermore, after the visit, there are some secret elements. (However, most people know this.) Since Ebessan is hard of hearing, he goes to the back and taps the gong with his hand, saying, ``Ebessan, tanonmasse!'' as a prayer. Press.

Mechanism ⑤ Open 24 hours

Actually, Ebessan has been doing it all the time. Ebessan is the god of business prosperity, so many businessmen come here. Naturally, there are many people who can't come during the day and come late at night, so we are open 24 hours a day for three days. Open 72 hours continuously from 0:00 on the 9th to 24:00 on the 11th! !

*However, Fukumusume and Omikuji are only available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Mechanism ⑥ Continuous billing

The lucky bamboo grass is replaced every year, so you have to go to visit the shrine every year and receive a new one. I've been going here for more than 10 years, and if business is going well, I'll go there to say thank you, and if business isn't going well, I'll go this year! I'm going to visit you to pray. In other words, in any case, there is an endless recurring payment system that requires you to visit the shrine every year. I think the repeat customer rate for business people is quite high.

 

summary

Therefore, Ebessan is a festival filled with cheerful background music, a freemium model, idol support elements, tricks, 24-hour operation, and recurring billing, all of which make business profitable.

There are many other stalls, and there are many fun things to do, such as walking back to Minami on your way home, so if you haven't been there yet, please come and visit once.