Last year we visited Shibuya and Harajuku on New Year's Day and got a glimpse of what usually happens then. We expected that a lot of stores would be closed but that's not exactly the case. New Year's Day is the traditional start of the Japanese Fukubukuro season and the start of many New Year's sales all over Japan. For the people wondering what Fukubukuro means: it stands for "lucky bag" or "mystery bag". So what is so special about these bags? Well, I think it has something to do with the HUGE discounts the (brand)store gives on the items in the bag. Usually something like 50%-70%. The only thing that you don't know is which items are inside. That is why the Fukubukuro is also called a "Mystery Bag". Because these items belong to a brand or store you love it's usually no problem. We did see a few warehouses (like Seibu) and electronic stores (like Bic Camera) break with this tradition because they let you know exactly what is inside the bag before you buy it. Besides the items in your bag some stores advertise with the possibility of an extra or special item that could be inside your bag to make it "extra" lucky; like the Fukubukuro from the Apple Store in Shibuya. The standard price of a Fukubukuro from Apple is 33.000 yen (330 euro) and it is guaranteed that the value of the items in the bag is a lot more. Last year most contained an iPod (together with some other items), but a few bags contained a Mac Book Air instead. Who knows what you might get this year! You can imagine that this Fukubukuro is very popular and every year on New Year's Eve people already stand in line before the store to get their hands on one of these bags. This happens with a lot of popular brand-stores and warehouses actually. Last year we even saw that LaForet had so many people waiting in line that a part of the road was closed to make enough space for the people who stood in line. Of another line we weren't even sure where it would lead to and after a 6 minute walk discovered it lead to the 109 in Shibuya. The Japanese sure love a good bargain and don't mind standing in line for it all day (or even the night before)! After looking into the Fukubukuro phenomena we discovered that a long time ago these bags were used by the stores to get rid of their remaining inventories of the previous year so that they could start the new year fresh (which is a Japanese tradition). This is still the case but some stores began creating limited items for their Fukubukuro or fill them with "trend" items to make them more popular and attract customers. So if you want a good bargain and you are near Shibuya, Harajuku or any other place with a big warehouse (and don't mind standing in line) make sure you check out this shopping hysteria. Who knows you might find yourself lucky with one of these bags as well!