Tama Plaza Tokyu Lucky Bag Crowd Rush — Incident Report
Retail Promotion · Crowd Rush

Tama Plaza TokyuLucky Bag Crowd Rush

A New Year fukubukuro promotion in Yokohama where shoppers surged forward at opening, causing people to fall over one another. The casualty figure and exact date remain disputed across sources.

Reported Date2 Jan 2002*
LocationYokohama, Japan
Injuries6–10 disputed
FatalitiesNone verified
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New Year Shopping Surge

The incident is described as a crowd rush or collapse during a New Year lucky-bag promotion at Tama Plaza Tokyu in Yokohama.

Sources describe shoppers surging forward when the sale or opening began, with people falling over one another in the movement.

The available research did not find a source linking any fatalities to this specific incident.

Tama-plaza, Yokohama

Venue: Tama Plaza Tokyu Shopping Centre / Tokyu Department Store Tama-plaza Store.

Address: 1-7 Utsukushigaoka, Aoba-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The official Japanese address is also given as 〒225-0002 神奈川県横浜市青葉区美しが丘1-7.

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Reported Incident Markers

2002
Incident Year
6–10
Reported Injuries
0
Verified Fatalities
9
Listed References

How The Account Develops

2 January 2002 — first-sale context
A later local retrospective frames the incident around Tama Plaza Tokyu’s 2 January first sale, where shoppers rushed the lucky-bag sales area.
4 January 2002 — contemporary blog mention
A MediaTinker post published on 4 January 2002 already refers to the fukubukuro stampede and reports six injuries.
18 February 2003 — Guardian article
G. Keith Still’s Guardian article refers to the Tama Plaza Tokyu shopping centre, New Year lucky bags, a crowd surge when doors opened, and 10 injuries.
Later listings — Jan 8 entry
G. Keith Still’s incident listings label the case as “2002 (Jan 8th),” creating a date conflict against the New Year / 2 January source trail.

What Is Known

🛍️
Promotion Trigger
The incident centred on New Year lucky bags, known as fukubukuro.
➡️
Crowd Movement
Sources describe shoppers surging forward as the opening or sale began.
⚠️
Collapse Mechanism
People reportedly fell over one another during the forward movement.
Unresolved Data
The exact casualty count and official incident date are not settled by the available sources.
⚠️ Source CautionThe 2 January date is the most consistent with the New Year first-sale trail, but the document also records a Jan 8 listing. Treat the exact event date as unresolved unless a contemporary official report is found.

Conflicting Information

Two details need caution: the reported injury count and the exact incident date. No need for detective cosplay — the sources simply do not fully agree.

Disputed Detail
Injury count

Different sources clearly point to the same Tama Plaza Tokyu lucky-bag crowd incident, but they give different injury figures.

Source Set 1

G. Keith Still’s gkstill.com incident pages and Guardian article report 10 injured.

Source Set 2

The MediaTinker blog post reports six people injured.

Both source sets refer to the same incident context, but the count cannot be treated as settled from the available research.

Disputed Detail
Incident date

The document records a user-supplied date of 08/01/2002, while the broader source trail points towards the New Year first-sale period.

Source Set 1

G. Keith Still’s listings label the case “2002 (Jan 8th).”

Source Set 2

The local retrospective ties the incident to 2 January, and the 4 January 2002 blog post had already reported the injuries.

The Jan 8 date may be a reporting or list-entry date, but that cannot be verified from the sources available here.

Unverified Details

The following points should not be presented as confirmed facts.

Exact date
Exact event day in an official contemporary primary report.
Store location
Exact in-store location where the crowd collapse began.
Venue naming
Whether the 2002-era name should be rendered as Tama Plaza Tokyu Shopping Centre, Tokyu Department Store Tama-plaza Store, or another Japanese naming variant.
Casualty detail
Exact injury count, names, ages, or conditions of injured persons.
Fatalities
Any fatalities linked to this specific incident. No verified fatality source was found in the research.

References

The reference cards below reflect the sources listed in the supplied incident document. Cards and buttons use the actual URLs from the source trail.

01
The Guardian · News article
‘Lack of information can turn a passive crowd into a dangerous one’
18 February 2003
Refers to the Tama Plaza Tokyu shopping centre in Yokohama, the New Year lucky-bag offer, a door-opening surge, people toppling over each other, and 10 injuries.
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02
gkstill.com · Website article
Crowd Crazing
Not stated in search result
Incident list entry identifying the case as “2002 (Jan 8th) Japanese Mall Event Organizers Create Crowd Craze--10 Injured” at Tama Plaza Tokyu Shopping Centre in Yokohama.
⚠️ Publication date not stated in the search result
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03
gkstill.com · Website article
Crowd Disasters
Not stated in search result
Matching incident list entry for the same Tama Plaza Tokyu case, again describing a crowd-craze event with 10 injured.
⚠️ Publication date not stated in the search result
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04
MediaTinker · Blog post
Oshogatsu is over. We
4 January 2002
Contemporary English-language post stating that six people were injured in the fukubukuro stampede at Tama Plaza Tokyu Shopping Center in Yokohama.
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05
MediaTinker · Archive page
January 2002 Archives
January 2002 archive
Archive page preserving the 4 January 2002 post and its six-injury statement for the Tama Plaza Tokyu fukubukuro stampede.
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06
Utsukushigaoka Blog / Seesaa Blog · Local retrospective
たまプラーザ東急SC「福袋市」(1月2日早朝)事後報告です
5 January 2006
Local retrospective stating that shoppers rushed the lucky-bag sales area during the Tama Plaza Tokyu first sale four years earlier, causing a crowd fall and injuries.
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07
Tokyu Department Store · Official store page
たまプラーザ店 |東急百貨店公式ホームページ
Current store page
Official current page confirming the Tama-plaza Store as a Tokyu Department Store location.
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08
Tokyu Department Store · Official access page
Access地図・駐車場・駐輪場 - たまプラーザ店
Current access page
Official access page giving the store address as 〒225-0002 神奈川県横浜市青葉区美しが丘1-7.
Visit Source →
09
Tokyu Department Store · Official English listing
Tokyu Department Store Official Website - shop information
Current site information
English-language official store listing for Tokyu Department Store Tama-plaza Store, giving the address as 1-7 Utsukushigaoka, Aoba-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa.
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