In Japan there is a new year tradition that on the first day (or sometimes the second day) of the new year shops sell mystery lucky bags to people. Theses bag, where you often do not know what is inside are sold with a really big discount. They are called 福袋（ふくぶくろ,fukubukuro)

The price of these bags start at a low 500yen-1000yen but they can go up in price you can’t even afford it. I read there was a bag you could buy, that included a 100 day around the world trip. But that one was not in my budget.

Because it was my first new year in Japan, I decided to join the shopping madness and buy myself some of these lucky bags. In this post I want to give everyone a nice overview of the Lucky bags I bought.

Lucky bags I bought

How much do they cost?

In total I bought five different bag.  I did not bought any bag with cloths inside (there are many cloths bags, with really nice things). Because Japanese sizes are not really my thing. Some bags really contain nice things and other where a disappointment.

The price varies between 1000yen and 3500yen. In total I spend 11500yen for the five bags. I will price the bag and I will try to put a estimated guess on what the real price is for all the products.

My five bags

Hello Kitty (3000yen)

If you hear Japan you think maybe ‘Hello Kitty’. I’m not really a big fan. But I decided to buy one of the lucky bags.  The bag included nine different items. This is what was inside:

• Sanrio original penguin towel (priced at 648yen (tax included))
• Little twin start 150ml containers (No price)
• Hello Kitty key chain cuddly toy (no price)
• Hello kitty commuter card holder/ fluffy wallet (priced at 1058yen (tax included))
• 3D Pochi friends hello kitty (lavender) (priced on the internet for 1490yen (tax included))
• Sanrio original bath towel (60cmX120cm) (priced on the internet for about 3000yen)
• Hello kitty beauty product case (priced at 2484yen (tax included))
• My melody handbag (No price)
• Helloy kitty & Mimmy: 40th anniversary stamp (priced on the internet for about 2000yen)

My conclusion

This bag has an estimated value of 10.000yen. And because I could not find price for all the products it’s probably even more. So I think I got a good value out of the bag. I liked the beauty product pouch the most and the strange rubbery pochi wallet the least. But in general the bag was worth buying.

Loft, stationary bag (1000yen)

Because I recently started drawing again, I though that buying a stationary bag would be nice. At loft they had many bags, but they did not really appeal to me, So I decided to buy the 1000yen bag. The bag included 15 items. These are the items:

• Sanrio characters pencil case (priced at 1400yen (no tax))
• Cinderella Disney pen (priced at 480yen (no tax))
• Snoopy ‘cute model’ pen (priced at 180yen (no tax))
• ‘Cute model’ general pen (priced at 150yen (no tax))
• Pripara cup (priced at 550yen (no tax))
• Wappen seal ‘letter T’ (priced at 280yen (no tax))
• Toy story Disney sticker (priced at 200yen (no tax))
• Dot mini tape nori (priced at 220 yen(no tax))
• Cat & leopard glue stick (300yen (no tax))
• Mickey & Minnie sticky notes (480yen (no tax))
• Peanuts: pre mail mini envelops (280yen (no tax))
• Peanuts flash cards (280yen (no tax))
• Sakura inspire schedule book 2016 (700yen (no tax))
• Disney ‘Tsum tsum’ 2016 schedule book (1300yen (no tax))
• Mickey Mouse note book (220yen (no tax))

My conclusion

This bag has an estimated value of 6.800yen. So it really covers the price of 1000yen. I like it for the cheap price. But it’s a bit sad they added two schedule books. (I do not know what to do with two books). It’s a general bag with things that I would probably not buy, but now I have these things I can use them.

Vanguard (3500yen)

The third bag I bought at vanguard. A shop where you can buy stuff that are not so Japanese. And in my opinion this bag gave the least of value back. Next time I would probably not buy this bag again. The bag included six items. These are the items:

• CraftHolic Puppy round cushion (priced at 1400yen (no tax))
• Jizo ‘Japanese stove angel (key chain)  (No price)
• Sanrio “Gudetame” keychain (priced on the internet for around 1200yen)
• 25 traditional beer mats (priced on the internet for around 500yen)
• R-reversal ‘men underwear’ (3076yen (tax included)
• Pea pod cat blanket (1365yen (tax included))

My conclusion

This bag has an estimated value of 7.500yen. So you get more than what you paid for. But I do not really liked this bag. It’s not a bag for males, but also not a bag for females. Some of the thing are really old. So you see they just wanted to get rid of certain things. This bag I would call an unlucky bag. But I still like the round pillow and the cat blanket.  I also think my brother deserves a late Christmas present.

Incube, stationary bag (1000yen)

This is the most random bag I bought today. Incube has a lot of different stuff. But they do not really have lucky bags. When I walked thru the department store I noticed at the far end the lucky bags. It was a heavy one and it said it was a female bag. So I took my chance and bought this bag for 1000yen, thinking if I do not like it I can throw it away. The bag included 16 items. Here are the items:

• Sakura drawing paper (300yen (no tax))
• Sakura medium note book (2 pieces) (each 250yen (no tax))
• Sakura small note book (2 pieces) (each 200yen (no tax))
• Small Maruman note nook (190yen (no tax))
• Origami paper (3 pieces (each 60yen (no tax))
• Decorating tape (380yen (no tax))
• General writing “Mitsu Bishi” pencils (3 pieces) (each 50yen (no tax))
• Staetdler ergosoft aquarell (5 different colours) (each 160yen (no tax))
• Original Photo frame (450yen (no tax))
• Disney ‘Frozen’ Anna hand doll (1600yen (no tax))
• Disney ‘Frozen’ Olaf cuddly toy (980yen (no tax))
• Disney ‘Frozen’ art (3240yen (no tax))

My opinion

The estimated value of this bag is 9000yen. This bag offers so much more then I paid for. I like this bag more than the Loft 1000yen bag, because it said stationary stuff and it also delivers.  I really like the Frozen art. It’s such a nice extra.

Parco: swimmer (3000yen)

This is the first bag I bought. When I arrived at the shops that morning, there was already a really long line people waiting. So when we finally entered the shop, and saw people whit this bag I decided I wanted this bag. And at the end. This is the ”MOST”  awesome bag I bought.  This bag contained 40 items. These are the item:

• Earmuffs (1200yen (no tax))
• Mechanical pencil filling (no price)
• Chocoholic smart phone screen cleaner (no price)
• Fan (on the internet around 108yen (tax included))
• Valentine plastic wine glass (no price)
• Multi clips (no price)
• Serving tray (no price)
• Fluffy pink bear, two sided bag (no price)
• Petite nail clipper (on the internet around 410yen (tax included))
• Film stickers (no price)
• Mini stool (no price)
• Cookie contact lens case (850yen (no tax))
• Swimmer music CD (no price)
• Photo book ‘Lovely cat’ (no price)
• Swimmers sugar flakes plastic bag (no price)
• Hook push pin (no price)
• mini note pad (no price)
• Chocoholic flower box (no price)
• Bambi make-up mirror (no price)
• 10 colour pencil (no price)
• Pump socks (no price)
• Kuru kuru bottle (300yen (tax included))
• Gift tag (no price)
• Glue ‘ black cat’ (no price)
• Hand wash mini towel (no price)
• Cotton bag (550yen (tax included))
• colouring tape (no price)
• Book shape mini cards (250yen (no tax))
• Letter set (no price)
• Schedule seal (no price)
• Glue stick (on the internet around 162yen (tax included))
• plastic paper map (on the internet around 191yen (tax included))
• Ruler (key chain form) (on the internet around 270yen (tax included)
• Nail cleaner ‘rabbit’ (no price)
• decoration tape (no price)
• earphone jack (no price)
• Musical jewel box (no price)
• eraser (no price)
• coaster (no price)
• Pen, in the form of a dog (no price)

My conclusion

The estimated price of this bag is 4,291yen. But this price is far from the value I got. I did not find the price for the jewel box (If someone know, tell me I want to know). But this bag contains so many small thing that you just become so happy. It’s like Christmas morning where you can open 40 small presents.

Next year again?

If I’m next year still in Japan I will definitely go hunting again for nice ‘lucky bags’. This first experience was really a thrill. At the end it only took me 2 hours, but I was so tired afterwards. Maybe I prepare myself a bit better next year.

So did you also bought a ‘lucky bag’? If you have remarks, suggestions, or questions you can always post them in the comments section, on my Facebook page, Google+ page or through Twitter.