A strange festival in Aomori and Kuroishi "Former Makko City" Long lines at each store from early morning
On February 4, the "former Masamako City" was held in Aomori/Kuroishi, and the crowd was crowded with customers who wanted to buy "Mcco" from the early morning.
"Mcco" means "new year's gift" and "bonus" in Tsugaru dialect, and "formerly Mocco city" begins when a Kuroishi hardware store handed a regular customer a machete. The custom that has existed since the period of the feudal lord was Kuroishi, which flourished as a town for merchants, and began to act as a day when merchants showed their willingness to do business.
Nowadays, mainly in suburban stores, we offer Macco with miscellaneous goods such as daily necessities according to the purchase price, and since there is a limited number and Macco over the purchase price, you can make a long line before opening 5 o'clock. Became. At the supermarket "Satocho Kotobukicho" (Kotoshi Kotobukicho), there was also a figure that set up a tent from 11:00 the previous day and asked for Macco.
In the central town of Kuroishi, Yokomachi, we set up a tower about 5 meters high, and carry out Fukumaki at 5 am and 10 am. Fukumaki is a custom that begins by throwing mochi with cash, and now it is not mochi, but it is supposed to put coins and discount coupons of each store in a small bag.
Mr. Koji Narumi, a Kuroishi shopping district cooperative that sponsors the former Makko city, talks about how the city of Macco has changed with the times. "It's said that the modern style came after the war, and I heard that during the bubble era, customers who bought a set of furniture were offered a passenger car as a Macco," he said.
Mr. Narumi says, "The number of customers who are looking for Macco is increasing mainly in suburban stores. There is a tendency to check the distributed leaflets in advance and decide which stores will be lined up with the family and ask for Macco as a whole family." .. "For the people of Kuroishi, the city of Macco is like a festival once a year, and the people who left the city return for this day. It looks like the whole town is booming from early morning. Only in Macco city of."
