Earlier this year, Japanese consumers camped outside stores to buy the latest in high technology

Apple Inc.'s iPad and new iPhone 4. Now they are rushing to buy something a little more traditional: television sets.

In fact, in the TV departments of the country's major electronics stores, every day is almost as busy as the iPhone launch day, if recent store visits in the capital are anything to go by. Â Last week â ' Nov. 8 -14 -- domestic flat-panel TV sales soared sixfold from the same period last year, according to market research firm GfK. In that week alone, stores sold more TVs than they did in all of November last year.

So why are the Japanese buying TVs like they've never seen TVs before? A new tech feature? A new society trend of some kind?

The reason is something a lot more traditional: bargain-hunting. TVs are selling like hot cakes now because the government is soon to scale back a subsidy program that offers incentive points for buying energy-efficient TVs, refrigerators and air conditioners. Under this program, consumers are basically getting an equivalent of a substantial discount on their purchases, because they can trade the so-called 'eco-points' for other goods and services.

The eco-point program is meant as a temporary measure. It started in May 2009 as part of Japan's stimulus package to rev up an economy struggling to recover from the financial crisis. The original plan was to end it in March this year, but the government has extended it through March next year.

But the government said last month that the eco-points consumers receive upon their purchases will sharply decrease from Dec. 1. Until the end of this month, you get 36,000 points â '- worth up to 36,000 yen ($432) of goods or services â '- when you buy a 46-inch or larger TV that meets the program's energy efficiency criteria. But come December, you will only get 17,000 points on the same purchase.

'TV sales have exploded since the (government) announcement last month,' says a spokesman for major electronics retailer Bic Camera Inc. Stores usually see TV sales rise before events like the Olympic Games or soccer's World Cup, but this kind of extremely concentrated demand during a short period of time is unprecedented, he says.