Fukubukuro

Origins and meaning

The practice started during the late Meiji era, when the Ginza Matsuya department store began selling mystery parcels to customers. The term joins the word for good fortune, fuku, with the word for bag, fukuro. Its name draws on an old saying that fortune hides in leftover things. Shopkeepers historically used the bags to clear remaining stock from the preceding twelve months. This practice aligned with a folk belief that households should not carry unwanted possessions into the coming year, but instead start with a clean slate. Over time, the custom spread to retailers across Japan and eventually reached Japanese stores abroad.

Contents and variations

Merchants prepare the contents according to their trade. Department stores divide packages by section, packaging apparel or shoes to fit particular styles and price ranges. A tea shop might assemble an assortment of tea containers, cups, and a blanket. When items are too large to fit in a package, such as major home appliances, stores insert vouchers instead. Bags can also hold luxury surprises like expensive coats or travel tickets. When parcels hold genuinely poor merchandise, people jokingly refer to them as misfortune bags or depressing bags, which certain shops sell cheaply for humour.

Modern sales and pricing

Stores plan their sales months before the holiday. Standard bags cost between several hundred and ten thousand yen, but high-end jewellers and luxury department stores occasionally assemble packages priced in the millions of yen. In recent times, some merchants have begun revealing bag contents in advance. While this guarantees that buyers know what they receive, critics argue that displaying the goods beforehand turns the custom into an ordinary bundled sale and removes the element of chance and luck.

How Fukubukuro is kept

Merchants plan out their mystery packages and price tiers months before the holiday. On New Year's Day, eager buyers gather outside department stores and local shops, occasionally forming long queues that wrap around city blocks hours before opening. Shoppers choose bags based on store department or price point without seeing the specific goods inside. After purchasing, customers unwrap their bags to see what items they received and discover their luck for the new year.

When and where

Fukubukuro takes place during the Japanese New Year, starting on New Year's Day on the first of January, and continues while bag supplies last.

The custom is held throughout Japan at department stores, speciality shops, and retail districts. It is also observed by certain Japanese retailers in the United States, including shopping centres in Honolulu.

What Fukubukuro means

The custom links to the traditional idea that luck resides in surplus goods left over from the past year. Clearing away older inventory allows merchants and customers to begin the new calendar year clean, while the thrill of buying a mystery parcel serves as an auspicious test of personal fortune.

Days Fukubukuro is marked

Questions people ask about Fukubukuro

See also

KadomatsuA Japanese New Year gateway decoration of pine and bamboo where a visiting deity can restLosarThe Tibetan Buddhist New Year festival of renewal, offerings, and family feastsYule logA log kept burning on the hearth through the twelve days of Christmas, for luckTwelve Days of ChristmasA festive Christian liturgical season linking Christmas Day to the eve of Epiphany

Good reading and sources

• Fukubukuro on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-06.