New Year's - the biggest holiday in Japan! It's full of customs and traditions...including fukubukuro, literally translated as "lucky bag", also known in English as lucky packs.
What's a fukubukuro?
Traditionally, they're deeply discounted mystery grab bags filled with leftover stock from the year before. Because it's considered bad luck for a shop to keep old stock into the new year, they stuff these bags full to get rid of everything quick. Nowadays, many shops do what they call "happy bags", where they make special items specifically to sell at New Year's and the contents are not a mystery.
This was my second year going fukubukuro shopping in Osaka (the first was during a visit 4 years ago), and I purchased 3 for myself: An Another Angelus (F.i.n.t's sister brand), Swimmer, and Innocent World. I also purchased one for my friend as part of my shopping service from Leur Getter, and she so generously offered the opportunity for me to post photos of it as well!
In recent years, many shops have begun offering reservations for fukubukuro, to cut down on the craziness at opening on release day. If you're in Japan when they begin reservations, it's a really great option to cut down on stress and waiting time! I reserved both the An Another Angelus and Leur Getter bags beforehand and picked them up on January 2nd.
Now what you've been waiting for - the reveals!
An Another Angelus
An Another Angelus is a girly-casual brand geared towards a slightly older crowd (mid to late 20s or so). Its sister brand, F.i.n.t, is perhaps more well-known.
I actually only owned a pair of shoes from them before, but I always admired their clothing and thought this would be a good opportunity to dive in!
The fukubukuro cost me ¥10,000 (plus tax). I was guaranteed a coat, but everything else was a surprise.
I absolutely love the coat! The faux fur is so soft and also detachable for easy cleaning.
Original price: ¥16,800
Coats are often big in the shoulders for me, but this fit really nicely!
Definitely a favorite in this pack! Super flattering and comfortable and - there's pockets!
Original price: ¥7,500
This knit is very simple, but I wear a lot of navy, so it will definitely get use!
Original price: ¥4,600
Not a color I would have chosen, but I think I'll still definitely wear this. It's made for warmer weather though, so it will have to wait!
Original price: ¥6,600
I wear a lot of this color, so this will get lots of use! I do have a sort of similar top from axes femme already, but this is a good alternative because I wear the other one all the time.
Original price: ¥3,800
This piece I'm most unsure about. I love the neckline, but the fit is rather roomy on me (despite lacing up the back) and just awkward on my torso in general.
Possibly selling this (if you're interested, shoot me an email: mintkismet[at]gmail[dot]com).
Original price: ¥12,000
Overall, I'm very pleased with the fukubukuro! There was only one item of six that I don't think I'll keep.
Total worth: ¥51,300 (savings of ¥41,300)
Innocent World
I originally wasn't going to buy a fukubukuro from IW, but I received some money as a gift just a couple days before, so I went for it. They had four price options in store: ¥15,000, ¥16,000, ¥20,000, and ¥30,000. I went with the ¥16,000 option.
The contents were a total surprise - no hints were given.
The first item I received was the Strawberry Tart Simple Onepiece in red. This is from 2015, so I was surprised they still had some! At first I was really disappointed - I'm not super into gingham and don't have bright red in my wardrobe at all. Basically, it's not at all my style.
But then I tried it on and it was really cute worn lol (and not as big on me as I expected).
I think I'll try to sell it first (again, please email me if interested!), but wear it once or twice in the spring/summer if I can't fetch a price I'm happy with.
Original price: ¥20,800
The other item I got was the Cord Lace Flocky Jumperskirt in pink (or beige? I can't tell lol). I really like this piece except for the rickrack along the neckline lol. It seems like it might be easy enough to remove with a seam ripper, so I may try that. It will fit in with my closet quite well!
Original price: ¥22,800
Overall, I'm relatively satisfied with this fukubukuro. I would have preferred more plain items rather than printed, and maybe one main piece with some accessories instead of two dresses.
Total worth: ¥43,600 (savings of ¥27,600)
SWIMMER
SWIMMER advertised a ¥3000 fukubukuro for New Year's with a pink reusable tote. When I got there, they also had blue available - turns out the blue was exclusive to that particular mall. I prefered that tote (I love Alice in Wonderland), so went with that. I'm not sure if the contents of the two differed much, if at all.
Not including the special tote, there were 12 items inside. SWIMMER removed the original tags from the items, so I'm not sure how much the bag was worth in total.
These are the items I don't plan on keeping. The cat cushion and hand towel are cute, but I'm not a fan of cats!
If you're interested in any items I'm not keeping (or thinking of getting rid of), please email me: mintkismet[at]gmail[dot]com
These are the items I'm definitely keeping. I'm particularly fond of the bear clock!
These items I'm not sure about. I like them, but am not sure they'd get enough use to warrant keeping.
"Corrousel" made me laugh though haha.
If you're interested in any items I'm not keeping (or thinking of getting rid of), please email me: mintkismet[at]gmail[dot]com
Leur Getter
Leur Getter was started by one of Emily Temple cute's original designers and has a similar vibe to ETC. I reserved this fukubukuro in December and thankfully so! It sold out on reserve in only a day and a half, then they only had one of this size in store on January 2nd. There were two options: ¥10,000 and ¥20,000. This is the ¥20,000 version. My friend got a ¥10,000 pack day of, which contained only accessories.
There were no hints given about this fukubukuro, but it ended up containing two dresses, a bag, and a pair of socks.
Because this fukubukuro isn't for me, I'll only be providing photos and price comparisons rather than my opinion lol.
Original price: ¥26,800
Original price: ¥28,800
Original price: ¥15,800
Original price: ¥3,200
Total worth: ¥74,600 (savings of ¥54,600)
Overall, I felt my fukubukuro shopping was rather successful! It's always a lot of fun opening them up when you get home and seeing what's inside.
If you ever find yourself in Japan during the holiday, definitely try your luck!
I really liked both dresses on IW's fukubukuro!!!
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