Lucky Bag

At the start of the new year, shops in Japan sell 'Lucky Bags' also known as 'fukubukuro' (福袋) . As copied and pasted from Wikipedia, this is when merchants make grab bags filled with unknown random contents and sell them for a substantial discount, usually 50% or more off the list price of the items contained within. This is a 'fun' way of getting rid of old stock and making a fun game for shoppers. 

I wasn't planning on buying anything in the new years sales as I already have way too much stuff cramped into my very small room as it is, but when I was out on a bike ride with my awesome housemate Florent*, we stumbled upon one of our favorite shops, The Village Vanguard, selling lucky bags at the front of their shop and couldn't help ourselves.

We decided to invest in a 3500 yen lucky bag and split the cost and contents. We cycled home fast and excited like children on xmas eve, having agreed not to open it until we got back. 

We decided to take pictures of the process of opening and discovering the contents of our lucky bag. Were we lucky or not? I'll let you be the judge....

Before opening:

Opening of the Lucky Bag;

A peek inside:

Item 1; A neck warmer. We agreed Florent can keep this as he just lost his scalf:

Item 2; A hot drink thing. I was pretty excited about this because I was planning on buying one anyway for work. Thus, it was decided I would take this one:

Item 3; an awesome stuffed toy:

Item 4; a birthday themed photo album. How specific, this will have to be used for a birthday present. Probably for someone who doesn't read this blog.

Item 5; a punch bag. This will be donated to Sakura House (where we live):

Item 6, the last item; a bathtub themed fridge magnet. Another donation to Sakura House:

So, lucky or not? What do you think?

Florent* As pictured below: