Call it a lucky bag or a fukubukuro, this unique Japanese tradition gives shoppers a chance to snag fantastic bargains and score exclusive merchandise from just about every Japanese brand and retailer out there!

What Is a Fukubukuro?

Mystery boxes (often of questionable quality) have become a trendy sales tactic around the world in recent years, but the fukubukuro (福袋) has been a part of Japanese New Year’s celebrations for generations. The history of Japan’s “lucky bags” or “happy bags” (as they’re sometimes called in English) goes all the way back to the Edo period (1603–1868), when early retailers first introduced mystery grab bags, although the term “fukubukuro” became more standardized about a century ago. In Japanese culture, starting the year with unsold inventory is considered unlucky, making these surprise-filled bags a clever way for shops to clear last year’s stock while showcasing new products to customers.

Today, businesses across Japan embrace this tradition, and many of them stick to the classic approach, using fukubukuro like an efficient clearance sale. Opaque bags or boxes are stuffed with leftover inventory like clothing, home goods, or gourmet treats, and then sold at discounted prices. Others, including cafes or brands without surplus items, design exclusive limited-edition products specifically for the season, often revealing the fukubukuro’s contents to entice shoppers. Whether you opt for a traditional surprise or a curated selection, discovering the fun of the fukubukuro is a delightful way to kick off the New Year in Japan. Here are some of our top picks this year!

① The Pokemon Center

The Pokemon Center, purveyor of Pokemon merchandise large and small, is too popular for its own good – new product releases often cause their website to crash. So for their online exclusive “Pika Pika Box 2025,” hopeful shoppers will have to first wait for a time when the website isn’t too congested, and then enter their information into a lottery sometime between November 25th and December 2nd. Lottery winners (announced December 10th~) will pay 4,400 yen to receive a box mostly filled with mystery Pokemon merchandise, with the exception of a pillow. The Hatsuyume Pillow features a fuzzy Pokemon applique, either Pikachu or Pawmi, enjoying their first dreams of the year!

▶︎ Find details on the official website.

② Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea runs a handful of tea shops around Japan, and even more small boutiques selling cute home goods and tea sets, and their fukubukuro options always include a selection of specially-made kitchen and tableware. If you’re in the market for some new small appliances, or you just like to collect cute items for your home, the sweet styling of their fukubukuro makes them a good option! This year, you can choose from options that include a compact multi-purpose hot plate, or even a little air fryer!

▶︎ Find details on the official website.

③ Doutor

Sanrio fans, listen up, because this one’s for you! This year the popular coffee shop chain Doutor is partnering with Sanrio to release Kuromi-themed fukubukuro, with plenty of cute Kuromi merchandise included. If you choose a coffee-based fukubukuro, full of convenient drip coffee pouches or bags of coffee beans, each one will also include either a small Kuromi zippered pouch, a mini hand towel, or a plastic file folder. If you go for the special Kuromi Original Bag Set, however, you’ll get a cute quilted Kuromi tote bag, a little Kuromi pouch, and a Kuromi stuffed toy wearing a Doutor uniform. These little toys are hilarious and adorable, and if you’re a Kuromi fan, you probably need one.

▶︎ Find details on the official website.

④ Yojiya

Yojiya is a Kyoto skincare brand with a focus on natural ingredients, known for their silk-infused hand cream, their convenient powdered blotting paper, and their refreshing yuzu-scented products. And in the past, their fukubukuro have sold out in under an hour. Make sure you’re ready to access their online store at 10 am on December 1st if you want any chance of snagging these bags of Yojiya products priced close to 50% off! There are 5,000 yen and 10,000 yen options, each one packed with many of the brand’s most popular products, which should give you everything you need to start the new year with great skin.

▶︎ Find details on the official website.

⑤ Yodobashi Camera

While Yodobashi may have been a camera shop once upon a time, these days the store sells just about everything under the sun, including a wide variety of electronics and appliances. So it’s no wonder their fukubukuro options are numerous and highly varied! Enter into a lottery by the end of December 1st for a chance to purchase a “Dream Otoshidama Box” (夢のお年玉箱) containing a new laptop, iPad, gaming monitor, cellphone, or another high-ticket item at a discounted price. For many of them you don’t know exactly what model you’ll get, but it’s probably a great deal, and that’s what fukuburo are all about!

▶︎ Find details on the official website.