Tokyo, July 2, 2015 - Rakuten, Inc. today announced that it will hold its inaugural Rakuten Festival from August 1-5, 2015. “Rakuten Festival 2015” is a free event that aims to bring a fun and exciting shopping atmosphere to Tokyo Big Sight this summer.
Rakuten Festival 2015 is being held this year for the first time ever and is focused on the concept of a “shopping festival where visitors can actually see, taste, and try goods.” The event will feature a variety of user-participation and hands-on activities, including special shopping events and promotions that run simultaneously on-site and live on the Internet, with a focus on Rakuten Ichiba.
Since its founding, Rakuten Ichiba has held “Shopping is Entertainment!” as its motto, and has provided both its listed merchants and users with the fun and sense of excitement of shopping. Approximately 300 merchants listed on Rakuten Ichiba are scheduled to take part in Rakuten Festival 2015. A variety of events and programs will run throughout the festival to help visitors experience the fun of shopping as they enjoy first-hand gourmet food, fashion, and lifestyle products from Rakuten Ichiba and the famous “omotenashi” hospitality of its merchants.
At the venue, Rakuten will hold the Rakuten Festival Limited-Time Sale, a popular sales promotion event from Rakuten Ichiba where visitors will be able to enjoy great deals on products only available at the venue, in addition to the Rakuten Gourmet Festival, which brings together the wide range of gourmet foods available on Rakuten Ichiba, including everything from mail order gourmet foods to local specialties. Other events to be held at the event include The Summer Sweets Grand Prix which will decide the very best sweets from among the approximately 13,000 gourmet food shops listed on Rakuten Ichiba, hands-on workshops where people can experience the dedication of popular merchants to their crafts, and fashion shows from the popular clothing merchants on Rakuten Ichiba. In addition, with a full line-up featuring the most popular stores on Rakuten Ichiba, as well as a variety of Rakuten Ichiba’s most unique specialist stores, visitors will be able to experience the diverse range of products Rakuten Ichiba has to offer in real life.
Furthermore, Rakuten Group companies will also be participating in the festival, with the Rakuten Card Premium Lounge for Rakuten Card holders; the Viber Bar, which will offer original drinks in the Viber brand colors; and a number of other fun bargain programs.