*Shinta saw an advert in the Straits Times that Taka Singapore was selling Fukubukuros /福袋 / Propsperity Bags, so I thought I would write a little post on our experience with them in Japan...
Usually on the second day of the New Year (ie 2nd Jan), department stores or brand stores would sell these 福袋. Basically the concept is that you pay $x for a sealed bag without knowing the conents. Usually the individual prices of the contents would add up to much more than $x, but of course its a matter of luck whether you like the items or not. Even hours in advance, there are always snaking queues at all the entrances of the departmental stores like Daimaru and Takashimaya, with hordes of shoppers dying to get in. One very popular item is the departmental store 1000 yen (S$17) bags containing a variety of items ranging from clothes to household goods. *Shinta and I unsuspectingly joined the queue on the ground floor which looked only about 20 persons long, without realising the entire of the restaurant floor at the top was packed with snaking queues of serious hard core shoppers.
Each person is allowed a max of 5 bags, and "tickets" are handed out at the queue on the ground floor to make sure there's enough. When *Shinta and I told the guy at the entrance that we only required 1 ticket each, he repeated his question again and looked at us disbelievingly... People actually come prepared with trolleys and all to carry the bags back! It was a slight mistake for us non-residents to queue for these, because we ended up queueing a good hour for it, and even though they're probably really great value for money, the contents were mostly household related stuff like soba, cooking sauces, instant coffee, chocolate powder and.... canola oil?
What I liked a lot more were the specific clothing/brand 福袋. These go by brand and size and are usually pricier depending on the brand. Most start off at 10,000 yen (about S$170) but the Nike one I had for example, had a really good coat, sweat pants, jersey and t-shirt with a total price tag of about x5. Even brands like Tommy, Theory, CK had them, and they disappear really really fast! I was sorely tempted by an Anya Hindmarch 福袋 at around 30,000 yen (about S$51). I think the most expensive 福袋 I saw was a Lewin one at 100,000 yen (S$1700)!! The food department in the basement where the confectionary, biscuits etc are also had them, but these are different because the contents of these are all the same and shops would display them upfront.
*Shinta loved this kind of shopping...! No need to try the clothes on, no need to wonder whether the colour is right or the cut makes you look fat... Just pick up the bag and go! Here's a photo of our haul...
I managed to restrain myself and only bought a few. I think while there were some really good finds, I'm not sure what to do with those pieces that don't fit me at all. Probably have to give them away... *sigh*
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