Lucky Bag, a Japanese New Year’s Event

10/17/202109/16/2023

Every New Year in Japan, thousands of people line up to buy “lucky bags” called “fukubukuro”. A lucky bag is a bag filled with everything from clothing to food that the store sells, and the items are secret. Originally started by Japanese department stores as a way to clear out their inventory, the program has now become an annual New Year’s event throughout Japan.

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Lucky bag is fun!

The range of prices for lucky bag is from a few hundred yen to several hundred thousand yen. The excitement of not knowing what’s inside the bag and the disappointment or happiness when you open it are almost like gambling. Since they are sold at the beginning of the year, there is also an aspect of trying your luck for that year. In reality, many items are bagged as a way to dispose of inventory, and this has caused the popularity of lucky bag to slump. For this reason, many stores nowadays disclose the contents of their bags. That’s what makes them fun to buy because you know you are getting a good deal!

Five Popular Lucky bags

It all started when clothing stores started selling lucky bags, which are bags filled with clothes that they can no longer sell, but recently lucky bags from non-clothing stores have become especially popular. Among them, here are five of the most popular lucky bags in Japan!

Starbucks Coffee

Every year, a lucky bag is sold that includes a variety of items such as tote bags, tumblers with a limited design, coffee, and drink tickets. The price is around $80, so it’s easy to buy.

Yodobashi Camera

Yodobashi Camera is a major Japanese electronics retailer. They sell about 45 types of grab bags of electrical appliances such as cameras, audio, and home appliances. They are divided into different genres, so you can choose the kind of electronics you want!

Mister Donut

Mister Donut is a famous donut chain store in Japan. You can choose your favorite goods along with the donut voucher. The goods are quite popular because you can only get them in lucky bags. Last year, they sold goods in collaboration with Pokémon and they were really cute, so I’m looking forward to next year!

gelato pique

gelato pique is a brand of comfortable room wear. It is a very popular brand and is famous for being difficult to get hold of every year. The brand has a wide range of products for all ages, from children’s to men’s and women’s, so it’s cute for families to wear together.

L’Occitane

L’Occitane offers two types of lucky bags. The lucky bags that you can buy on the web shows you what’s inside, while the lucky bags that you can buy in stores keeps the contents secret. Which lucky bags do you like?

Look forward to the 2022 lucky bags!

None of the 2022 New Year’s grab bags have been announced yet, but I’m really looking forward to them! It’ll be an online lottery or purchase since the situation of the COVID-19 next year, but I’d actually recommend standing in a long line to buy one because it’ll be more fun!