SomewhatAtlanticPacific

Bags of Happy

This morning my friend M. and I went to the New Year's sales. While Dec 26 is the most active post holiday shopping day in the US (and a civilized holiday in the UK), January 2 is The Big Sale day in Japan. In particular, people buy fukubukuro, which is translated as Lucky bags, but should be strictly translated as "Bags of happy."

Various shops will fill up bags with stuff and seal them-- and sell them for a fraction of the price. You don't know what you are going to get, so it's a bit of lottery. So you play the odds by choosing a designer you like. Fukubukuro used to be sad things for children, but with the recession and the excess inventory, both the quantity and quality have improved (I calculated a 7 to 1 price performance ratio). And now adults (like M. and me) play as well. . .

M. and I waited for an hour in the cold at the Odakyu department store in Shinjuku with what seemed like the rest of the female population of Tokyo. When the doors opened, there was pushing and shoving as we raced up 3 flights of escalators to the fourth floor. Normally painfully correct Japanese ladies elbowed and shoved to get a hold of a lucky bag in a fit of consumer frenzy. Sales people shout encouragment while others (without much success), tell people not to run in the store.

My haul was OK. But it was fun nonetheless and worth doing once.

posted by SomewhatAtlanticPacific @ 4:59 PM