TOKYO: Department store operators in Japan will be selling “fukubukuro”– New Year lucky bags– which will include a wide variety of experiences that meet new lifestyles brought by the novel coronavirus crisis. 

While those sold for the 2021 New Year featured products and services that helped consumers enjoy themselves at home amid the pandemic, some lucky bags for the coming year will take people outside as the number of COVID-19 cases has dwindled, at least for now.

The Seibu main store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district, run by Sogo & Seibu Co., will offer for 10,000 yen a lucky bag that allows buyers to stay at a resort hotel in the central prefecture of Nagano at the bottom of the Yatsugatake mountain range.

The fukubukuro, to be sold by lottery to three couples, provides six straight nights in a deluxe twin room that normally costs at least 17,000 yen per night, breakfast, a sky view from the bathroom window and fresh forest air on the balcony.

Applications for the bag will be accepted at the store for the first three days of 2022.

Takashimaya Co. will sell a lucky bag with a tent suitable for glamping, a luxurious form of camping that has been gaining popularity in Japan, for 1.9 million yen. The tent, called Zero Pod, comes with a table and is easy to carry and set up.

Three tents will be sold by lottery. The company will accept applications for the bag at the Nihonbashi outlet in Tokyo and on its website starting on Jan. 2.

Matsuya Co.’s outlet in the upmarket Ginza district in Tokyo will make available to five people a lucky bag that includes a tailored suit, treatment at a barber in Ginza and dinner at a Chinese restaurant in the district, for 55,000 yen.

The bag will be sold at the store starting on Jan. 2.

A Matsuya official said the company hopes to add some energy to Ginza by bringing people to the district.

To avoid creating crowds at stores, department store operators will sell some of the bags before the turn of the year and accept reservations. Many have also adopted online sales.

The first day of sales for 2022 is expected to be Jan. 2 at many department stores, while stores run by Sogo & Seibu will be open on New Year’s Day.

JIJI Press