Kutaka Niwatari is the god of wild chickens and can be seen on the left shouting, "Come and get your all-new super delicious premium Christmas fried chicken!" She's full of energy as she tells all the passersby about the wonders of chickens. Her Rin-Rin Mart uniform is easy to move around in and extremely eye-catching. You could say it's like two chickens, one stone... She's also wearing a name badge, making her extra approachable to all the customers.

Chimata Tenkyuu is a market god and can be seen on the right holding up a big sign. Supposedly, she was once at an all time low but managed to regain her power as a god with the help of us tengu. At markets, ownership of goods is exchanged from one person to another through the acts of buying and selling. That process is what Chimata rules over. On this night, however, she was wearing a red and white outfit, complete with a white mustache. It looks remarkably similar to a Santa outfit, but as a market god, giving away presents for free is surely not on her to-do list.

The first time I visited Rin-Rin Mart, I was stunned. I immediately rushed over to the owner of Kourindou and asked him what was going on. With a carefree smile, he told me a certain youkai had asked him for some space to open a stall or two. He never thought it would turn into something so large-scale, but seeing as it didn't affect him or his business directly, he was pleased to see everyone having fun. Next, I went to talk to someone holding up a big sign. Here's what she said: "Bet you've never seen a market like this, huh? With markets, the crazier, the better. And this one's extraordinarily crazy." Things were looking grim. Everyone at the market was out to make money for themselves without a thought for those around them.

New Year's Odyssey While gathering more information, I spotted a giant chick-like youkai taking what appeared to be a well-earned break. Her tasks were never-ending. She was in charge of replenishing stock, attracting customers, and distributing fried chicken. It seemed to me that she was being overworked. But even if that wasn't the case, I'd have still felt sorry for her. After all, she was a chicken being made to sell chicken. I decided to probe one of the other staff members. She was shouting energetically in the hopes of attracting more customers, but she stopped to talk to me. "Don't worry about it!" she exclaimed before explaining precisely why there was nothing to worry about. She talked for a long time, so I'll omit the details, but she ended by saying, "All that matters is that the cycle of souls and their reincarnation is working properly." Souls. Reincarnation. It seemed like the staff members had all been given a sturdy theoretical framework to excuse what they were doing.

"How about some freshly fried chicken to warm you up on this cold night?!" The staff members' welcoming cries rang out into the winter air. The smell wafting from the stall alone was enough to tell that the chicken was delicious. But a journalist must always be thorough. At least, that's what I told myself as I bought myself a piece. The coating was crisp and the chicken inside was moist. The piping hot juices warmed my tummy, and the richness of the meat sent sparks flying through my brain. I remember thinking that I'd happily line up to get chicken this good every Christmas. Making fried food is delicate work. If the oil's too hot, the outside burns before the center is cooked. And if the oil's too cold, the inside will dry out before the outside gets crispy. But then I saw it. A strange contraption behind the counter. They called it a "deep fryer" and said it could make giant batches of fried food all in one go! And just like that, the entire subject of my article changed...