It has become an event not to be missed everywhere in Japan : the Fukubukuro, that is to say the Japanese Lucky Bag. In fact, it is huge surprise bag at a determined price. Inside, you will find many products from the store where you bought the Fukubukuro. It is a bit like Black Friday in the United States or winter sales in Europe, except that it is possible that the value of the contents of the bag exceeds the value of the Fukubukuro itself. Of course, as you can not open the bags before buying it, you do not know what products are inside, hence the name Lucky or Unlucky Bag ;p

The tradition of fukubukuro started in the early 1900s by the Ginza Matsuya Department Store due to a Japanese superstition that says : Do not start the new year with unwanted garbage from the previous year and therefore start cleaning. Since then, the concept has spread to all types of retailers, from cosmetics to clothing, but also toy stores and even electronics stores. Today, the best known stores like the Pokemon Center, the Ghibli Donguri or Starbucks are snapped up by impatient customers. There are even long queues around the store before the opening on New Year's Day. The Fukubukuro is an easy way to get items at discounted prices. In fact, stores put in their Fukubukuro items on sale. In principle, most are surplus goods, unsold and unpopular items from the previous year. But in some Fukubukuro, there are valuable items.

In general, the Fukubukuro are between 1,000 and 20,000 yen. Most stores put their Fukubukuro on the 1st business day of the year, so the 1st of the Year for some and the 2nd for the others. Sometimes it is even possible to order your Fukubukuro in advance in some shops to be sure to have a Lucky Bag and you are delivered at home. So good hunting and good luck :)

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