Hello, this is Kei!
I am going to explain about 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 in Japan today.
In Japan, when searching for a lottery ticket office or buying a lottery ticket online, copy and paste the word 「宝くじ」 into the search box and then enter the name of the place where you are located after leaving a space.
◆What is「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」?
You buy a ticket with a winning number on it, and if you win on the day the winning number is announced, you get the prize money corresponding to the number. Lottery tickets are sold not only in Japan, but also overseas, so you may be familiar with them. The official name is “「TOMIKUJI」” but in Japan, everyone calls it “「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」“.
「TAKARAKUJI」 is a “lottery” that is issued in accordance with the Law on Certificates with Lottery Winnings. Since gambling is prohibited in Japan, gambling activities are not allowed unless they are approved by the government.
「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 are no exception, and they are subject to the restrictions of the Law on Certificates with Lottery Winnings. The purpose of the so-called lottery is to ensure that the proceeds are used to finance local government finances,” according to an excerpt from Article 1. So, 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 exists for a noble purpose.
◆Attraction of 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」
【1】The amount of money you win
The most attractive thing about 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 is the amount of money you can win! There are several different types of lotteries, but all of them have the potential to pay out tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
「JUMBO TAKARAKUJI」 is 700 million yen. You can buy a lottery ticket filled with such dreams for as little as a few hundred yen each! Anyone can have the chance to win millions and change their current lifestyle.
【2】「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」as a little event
It’s nice to bet your life on 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」, but most people participate in it casually, like a little event.
In addition to the type of lottery where the numbers are written in advance, there is also a scratch type where you can scrape the card by yourself. If you want to choose your own number, you can choose your birthday, your girlfriend’s birthday, or the birthday of the girl you’ve been hitting on, and wait for your destiny to come true!
【3】Charity Business
As I explained a while ago, 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 has a “local funding” aspect to it. Forty percent of the lottery tickets we buy are used as a local financial resource for disaster prevention, countermeasures for the aging population and low birthrate, and construction of educational and welfare facilities. By buying a dream, we are indirectly helping people.
◆Types of 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」
【1】Regular 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」
When most Japanese people hear the word 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」, they usually think of a regular lottery. The numbers needed to win are predetermined in advance, and if the numbers match the winning numbers, you will win the lottery money. As a rule, lottery results can be checked online 24 hours a day after 5:00 p.m. on the day of the lottery.
≪ⅰ≫National Regular 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」
This is a lottery with the same prizes and conditions throughout Japan, with no regional differences. The most recent lottery was the “Tokyo 2020 Games Sponsorship Lottery” during the Olympics.
You can participate in the lottery for as little as 100 yen per ticket, up to 200 million yen! 200 million yen for 100 yen is an outrageous amount, but the potential of 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 is not like this.
≪ⅱ≫「JUMBO TAKARAKUJI」
This is the most major lottery in Japan. Since 1980, the three major lotteries, 「Year End JUMBO」, 「Dream JUMBO」 and 「Summer JUMBO」, have been sold, and now with the addition of 「Valentine’s Day JUMBO」 and 「Halloween JUMBO」, we have a total of five chances a year to become millionaires.
The winning amount of 「JUMBO TAKARAKUJI」 fluctuates every time, but the chance to win a mind-boggling amount of money, such as 500 million yen or 700 million yen for the first prize, appears before everyone’s eyes.
≪ⅲ≫「BLOCK TAKARAKUJI」
This is a general term for lottery tickets sold in each of the four blocks of “Tokyo”, “Kanto, Chubu, Tohoku regions”, “Kinki region”, and “West Japan”.
When and what kind of lottery tickets will be sold and what the prize structure will be will vary depending on each block and issue. It’s a bit like a core lottery that 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 fans buy.
【2】Scratcher
Scratchers are lottery that tell you whether you’ve won or lost right away. They are basically inexpensive at 200 yen a piece, and are sold all year round, so if you want to buy one quickly and know the result right away, this is the ticket for you!
The amount of the first prize varies from issue to issue, but it usually ranges from 50 million to 100 million. It’s exciting just to know that there’s no chance of winning 100 million at a ticket booth you drop by.
【3】Number-choice 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」
≪ⅰ≫NUMBERS
NUMBERS can be further divided into two types, NUMBERS4 and NUMBERS3.
■NUMBERS4
- Select your favorite 4-digit number and application type.
- There are three types of application types: straight, box, and set.
- “Straight” means that the number and the sequence of the numbers you applied for must match.
- “Box” means that the numbers in the box do not matter as long as they match.
- “Set” means that the winning amount is halved, but you only need to match either the straight numbers or the box numbers to win.
- The winning amount for a straight ticket is about 1 million yen, while a box ticket is 37,500 yen (the winning amount may vary depending on the amount sold and the number of winning lots).
- The minimum purchase price is 200 yen per unit.
- Lottery draws are held from Monday to Friday, except for the year-end and New Year holidays.
■NUMBERS3
- Select your favorite three-digit number and application type.
- In addition to “Straight,” “Box,” and “Set,” there are “Mini” types of applications.
- If the last two digits of the number you applied for are the same, you will win.
- The winning amount for a box is 15,000 yen, and for a mini is 9,000 yen (the winning amount varies depending on the amount sold and the number of winning lots).
- The minimum purchase price is 200 yen per unit.
- Lottery draws are held from Monday to Friday, except for the year-end and New Year holidays.
≪ⅱ≫BINGO5
BINGO5 is a number-choice lottery in which you choose one number from each of the eight squares (excluding the center free square) in a grid of “three vertical squares by three horizontal squares = nine”. For example, you can choose 5 from the squares marked “1 to 5” and 7 from the squares marked “6 to 10”.
The winning amount depends on how many lines are formed from the selected numbers (the winning amount varies depending on the amount sold and the number of winning lines). The winning amount for the first prize with the largest eight lines is approximately 5.55 million yen. The lottery is open to the public all year round, starting at 200 yen per unit. The lottery is held every Wednesday.
≪ⅲ≫LOTO
There are three types of LOTOs: Lotto 6, Lotto 7, and Mini-Lotto, which are very attractive, but it would take too long to explain, so I’ll explain it another day!
That concludes my explanation of the different types of 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」!
Note that the method of receiving your winnings depends on where you purchased your ticket. If you purchased from the official website, online financial institutions, or ATMs, you will receive your winnings in your registered bank account. If you purchased at a lottery booth or convenience store, you will receive your winnings at the booth or Mizuho Bank, depending on the amount you won.
When purchasing any lottery ticket, be sure to check the Internet to find out the draw date, when the sales period is, and how long the refund period is if you win!
◆Is 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 taxable?
Now that you know that you can get dreamy refunds from various types of lotteries, what you may be wondering is whether you will have to pay taxes.
Good news! There’s no tax on lottery winnings! As I explained a while ago, the purpose of the lottery is to raise funds for local government finances, but since a certain amount of revenue is generated for the local government upon purchase, the winnings are tax-free.
In other words, if you win 700 million yen, the entire 700 million yen belongs to you. Note that there are exceptions to this rule, such as when the winnings are distributed, when a ticket is purchased jointly, or when the winner dies.
◆Where to buy 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」
【1】Buy at a ticket booth
Have you ever seen a lottery ticket booth? They are usually located in front of train stations and have large signs saying 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」, so they are easy to find. Nowadays, you can use the official lottery website to search for lottery tickets booth based on your current location, or even by area.
Every year, when the high prize lottery tickets go on sale, there is a special feature on TV about which lottery ticket booths will produce the winning ticket. They say things like, “What is the feng shui direction of the lottery? If you’re interested, you should check it out!
【2】Buy at the official website
The other way is to buy from the official website. If you register for free on the official website, you can buy lottery tickets online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round. The entire process from purchasing to receiving your winnings when you win is completed online, saving you time and effort and making it highly convenient.
Purchases can be made by credit card or by carrier payment that can be combined with your cell phone bill, making it very convenient. There are also functions to prevent you from forgetting to buy tickets, such as continuous purchase and pre-order, and you can get one point for every 100 yen you spend, which can be used to buy tickets on the official website or at lottery ticket booths.
【3】Others
Other financial institutions that sell online and ATMs are also available. There’s nothing wrong with using these, but the official website is more convenient and offers more benefits, so I recommend it.
Now that the explanation of how to buy 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 is over, let’s talk about a few points about buying the tickets.
If you’ve ever bought a lottery ticket before, you probably know that you can choose to buy either a “single” ticket(BARA) or “sequential” tickets(RENBAN). Both methods are the same in that you buy a set of 10 tickets, but of course there are differences, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages, so let me introduce them to you.
The word “single” literally means in pieces. It’s called “single” because you’re buying 10 pieces of tickets. The numbers and pairs are not aligned, but the numbers at the end are 0 to 9. The advantage of buying “single” is that you can check each piece one by one with anticipation. This is not the case with sequential numbers.
On the other hand, the disadvantage of “single” is that the chance of winning the front and rear prizes is almost zero. The first and second prizes are the same numbers as the first prize, but the last number is different by one. For example, if “55 pair 186855” is the first prize, “55 pair 186854” and “55 pair 186856” will be the second and third prizes.
The 2017 year-end JUMBO has 700 million in first prize and 150 million in front and behind prizes. That means if you include the front and back prizes, you could win one billion yen all at once!
“Sequential tickets” means that you buy 10 tickets with consecutive numbers. The pair and the fifth digit of the number are the same, and the last digit is 0 to 9. In other words, “55 pairs of 18685*” has 0 to 9 in the “*” part. The advantage of buying sequential tickets is that you can aim for the front and rear prizes that I just introduced.
On the other hand, the disadvantage is that you can only see the pair of lottery results and know that all 10 cards you have are not winners.
This is a simple explanation of “single” and “sequential” numbers, but the JUMBO also has advanced versions called “Fuku-BARA 100” and “Fuku-REN 100”. Roughly speaking, it’s a combination of “single” and “sequential” numbers multiplied by 10. If you have enough money and want to increase your odds, consider buying this one!
Lastly, there is another way to buy lottery tickets, which is also called “3 REN BARA”. This is a ticket that can be purchased in units of 10 roses x 3 = 30, and the pair numbers are consecutive. The numbers are consecutive, but the last number of the lottery ticket is 0 to 9, which is a characteristic of “single”, so even though it is a single ticket, you can aim for the front and back prizes.
◆People who is suited/NOT suited for 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」
Finally, let’s take a look at who I think is suited for 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 and who is not. I can’t think of anyone who is unsuitable for it. The only thing I can say is that people who are too absorbed in the game to the point of neglecting their lives should not play.
You can buy a dream with as little as pocket money, and you can keep dreaming until you win. The best people to play 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 are those who want to buy a dream with a small investment. A few hundred yen can become 700 million.
◆Summary
How did it go, everyone? Did it make you feel like buying 「LOTTERY（TAKARAKUJI）」 ticket?
Depending on the type, there are chances to win every week, and even 「JUMBO TAKARAKUJI」 ticket with its unbelievable winning amount is sold several times a year.
I have some kind of ticket hidden in my pocket all year round. I’ll say it again, every ticket you buy is a dream until the day it’s announced. Why don’t you consider buying it to spice up your life a little?
Looking forward to the possibility of the spice becoming a big thing…
See you soon, that was Kei!