The Lucky Bag season is nearly here!!
While gift-giving (and receiving) is undoubtedly the most exciting part about holidays every year, we can all agree that in 2020, everyone would be delighted to receive a positive surprise — you know, for a change. And if you love the idea of surprises, there is no better New Year’s custom in Japan than Fukubukuro — the annual surprise hunt and bag snapping that marks the beginning of another good sales year for many department stores in Japan.
What are Lucky Bags?
Lucky Bags (also known as Mystery Boxes) a popular Japanese tradition that traces its origins back to the Edo Period (although some argue that it started in the Meiji Era) when the then-Mitsukoshi (known as Echigoya at the time) in Nihonbashi started selling leftover cloth materials in a bag that became known as “Ebisubukuro.” Called “Fukubukuro” in Japanese, fuku (福, meaning “good fortune” or “luck”) and fukuro (袋, meaning “bag”), and therefore literally translates into “lucky bags.”
Now the tradition has spread across the nation and many stores offer their own versions unique to the products they sell.
What’s in a Wakoen Lucky Bag?
As per tradition, the contents are undisclosed. Are you willing to take the risk?!
There will only be a total of 10 lucky bags given away. And they are first-come, first-serve. So make sure to pay close attention to our social media page (@wakoenglobal) to get updates on when they will go live!
Lucky Bags usually contain double the value of the price you pay! Or they may contain less than you paid!! Here is what we can tell you about our lucky bags.
1: While stores sometimes sell old items that are taking up space, as a tea manufacturer, we can guarantee that you are getting fresh, new tea leaves.
2: The value of our lucky bags will surprise you (in a good way) and you will receive more than what you paid for.
3: There will be some tea-related gift that is not tea (e.g. Kyusu, Yuzamashi, Tea containers, etc.)
When will the Lucky Bags go on sale?
The first sale begins on the first business day of the store, and for us, that is January 2nd. And if you are in other parts of the world, that usually means the evening of the 1st of January in countries like the US and Canada, and around midnight in Europe. Packages will be shipped out starting Jan. 5th and tracking numbers will be given out then for the people that opted for expedited shipping.
Finally, in many countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, Israel, etc. Our free shipping is limited to sea shipping. So it is highly recommended to use our expedited shipping method upon checkout if you are in one of the countries affected by these restrictions. If you want to know if your country is affected, please feel free to contact us on social media.