Japanese New Year Tradition: Buying Fukubukuro
Hatsuuri is the Japanese word for the first sale of the New Year. At this annual event, thousands of people line up outside stores waiting to buy a fukubukuro. These bags are usually available from January 1st through January 3rd.
Often people will begin lining up to buy fukubukuro several days in advance, knowing that the bags will sell out within only a matter of minutes. Sales people will periodically make announcements to the people waiting in the lines to inform them of the rate at which the stock is declining, or if the bags have sold out. These sales people are easily recognisable since they usually speak into megaphones and wear Happi coats – lightweight cotton festival jackets with baggy sleeves and a sash around the waist. Fukubukuro are bags that sell for around 10,000 yen, which converts to approximately 100 USD. The contents of these bags are a mystery, but they often contain products that value THREE times as much as what the customers pay for! Although the contents of the bags are most often a mystery, the store will typically print out a sticker attached to the bag, reading the quantity and types of items included. The bags are known as lucky bags since the luckiest consumers will get the best deal for what they pay. If you get a really great deal (which, typically, you will), you are thought to be blessed with a lucky year ahead! Serious fukubukuro enthusiasts will post the contents of their mystery bags online and arrange trades to ensure they receive the fukubukuro with the contents they most desire! Some higher-end stores will sell fukubukuro for a much higher price, but will include in the metaphorical “bag” items such as electronics, recliner chairs, flights, or even houses. One year, the Matsuzakaya Department Store sold a fukubukuro for 100 million yen, that contained a pure gold tea kettle. Other luxury department stores are known to have given away precious-jewel rings and helicopter rides. Since the fukubukuro is a Japanese-originating tradition, it used to be only department stores that would sell them. However, larger international brands have recently begun joining the custom by offering fukubukuro during the New Year period in their Japan store locations. The Apple store is among the few large international corporations to get involved with the hatsuuri. Fukubukuro is a very fun tradition – whether you are more of a mystery luck type person or a “look before you leap” type person. Some brands require that you purchase a ticket in advance, so if you are planning on heading out to obtain a fukubukuro, be sure to do some research on the store you want to purchase from and that store’s hatsuuri process!
