It's said that if you spend on January 1, you're more likely to spend for the rest of the year.
We also believe in this but I don't follow this saying blindly. I normally don't like to work on January 1 and try to relax completely. Here, in the Netherlands, January 1 is an official holiday so everything stays closed including supermarkets. Even restaurants stay closed as well. I can assume how busy this city is during weekdays by seeing the streets and buildings. Must be nice to see such a busy city so calm and lonely.
In here too, it's an official holiday. But some still have work to do, especially hotels, convenience stores, etc.
I was actually surprised the stores were closed on January 1st, I figured they must have a sale going on. Lucky bags are popular in Japan, it's a discounted bag with lots of goodies in it and it's being sold in stores. It's usually sold around New Years, so I thought shops are open to sell these.