TOKYO -- The number of people in Japan joining year-end parties appears to be returning to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels this year, but the parties are shifting toward smaller groups, a business analysis shows.

Restaurant reservation site operator Toreta Inc., based in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, analyzed reservation data for around 3,000 partner eateries during December evenings (5 p.m. to 11 p.m.), a peak time for year-end parties. As of Nov. 11, the total number of guests was 574,972, or 99.5% of the same period in 2019, suggesting a near-complete return to pre-COVID-19 levels.

Meanwhile, the number of groups reserving tables reached 69,438, up 24.3% versus the same period in 2019. A notable trend is the rise in smaller group bookings.

Reservations for groups of three to four people have increased about 50% from 10,451 in 2019 to 15,575 this year. Similarly, bookings for groups of five to six people grew from 6,415 to 7,865 -- an increase of over 20%. On the other hand, reservations for groups of 10 or more shrank by 11.3%, from 17,506 to 15,532.

The average group size has dropped from 10.3 people in 2019 to 8.3 this year. While this has been recovering from 5.6 in 2022 and 7.7 in 2023, it has yet to hit the pre-pandemic size. Traditional Japanese year-end parties, which often involved everyone in office attending and turning into large, rowdy gatherings, have not fully made a comeback.

A Toreta PR representative commented, "The desire to gather and enjoy meals together has definitely returned. However, at companies with a high proportion of engineers, in many cases they work remote, and in-person meetings are no longer as common as in 2019."

(Japanese original by Maki Nakajima, Digital News Group)