Monday, January 2, 2012

in japan:: fukubukuro

happy new year, all! in japan, new year is a biggie... everyone goes back to their hometowns to celebrate with family. hence, tokyo is deadly quiet and most stores and restaurants close for the holidays!! (point to note for travellers over christmas break!) 

so we stock up on fixings and had a flurry of favorite meals through the year. also, we read tonnes and organized the house so we're ready for the new year! another favorite thing during new year is - fukubukuro


the name, fukubukuro - 福袋, directly translated means lucky bag. merchants put together little bags filled with mystery items for deeply discounted prices. i found it daunting last year but decided to have some fun this year & laid my hands on the lush soap set for 2000 yen!


my soap bars - one, two (best seller!), three, four (??), five

you don't always know what's in the bag... as evident from our experience! the forth one was loosely translated to mitsubachi brazillion scallops! and the fifth, a discontinued delicious gingery one.

 they have fukubukuros for most stores including clothing, dessert, sports... even starbucks has hopped on the bandwagon! sometimes, they are categorized by gender, types and sizes to help you pick your bag. many japanese gyaru line the wintry streets outside famous gyaru fashion mall, shibuya 109, overnight to lay their hands on much coveted fukubukuros.


im not so sure about clothes! but i'll be poking my nose into pet, craft & aromatheraphy bags tomorrow! how about you? 
is that something you'd give a go? or do you rather know exactly what you're getting?

14 comments:

  1. oooh sounds like fun! I'd definitely partake! Happy New Year love x

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  2. @Helen

    im poking my nose around for more these days!! the element of surpise makes things so much more fun!

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  3. I loved these fukubukuros when we were living there.. The Other Half thinks its a waste of money! Hehe

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  4. wow... that is a lot of soap :)

    I am never good at using cake soap...

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  5. @kennytricia

    me to! but i got this cute muji soap holder and now im inspired to use it!

    plus point is, the soap makes the whole bathroom smell yummy!! love!

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  6. I don't mind getting this if they were categorised...I don't think i can take a full on surprise. =) I love soap bars! I only use soap bars in my own bathroom and liquid handsoap for guests.

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  7. looks super cute!! was it hard to get your hands on them?

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  8. i <3 Lush!!! they used to make this yummy lip balm called 'Lip Squeak' that tasted like cinnamon apple pie!! really sad they discontinued it.

    btw, do you remember these "lucky dip" bags we used to be able to buy from the corner shop in Singapore? it came in a black bag and cost $1 or something.

    most of the money i earned on running errands used to be spent on that crap. sheeesh. we're suckers in a way hey? haHahaha!! :P

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  9. @fernoftheforest

    the lush one is very organized! they tell you exactly what you're expecting! the only question is what the scent is!

    i reckon they make great pressies too! :)

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  10. @ohmyomiyage

    these were super common! but did you hear about the apple fukubukuro? people got phones, imac & macbooks! craziness...

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  11. @guerrrilla

    yea i do remember those bags! great fan of that! :) man some things don't change!

    shame! the cinnamon apple pie flavored lippie sounds yum! there is one im using now that's popular in japan (by maybelline) that is peach pie! haha!!

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  12. Ah~ my friend was telling me about this at a Japanese market we have here called "Mitsuwa". I should've gone to get one!

    But yay for soaps!! :D

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  13. @tiffyama

    yeah it adds a fun factor to shopping!

    but works well if you don't have somehting specific in mind! :)

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