The Japanese tradition of fukubukuro

If you're currently living in Japan, you probably know that, in addition to the traditional Japanese New Year, many people also celebrate the Japanese tradition of fukubukuro bags! For those not familiar with the term, fukubukoro comes from the words fuku 福, which means luck or fortune, and fukuro 袋 which means bag (the "fu" becomes "bu" in this compound noun), and it translates as "lucky bag."

The fukubukuro tradition reminds me of Black Friday, as many people gather in front of their favorite stores to get the lucky bags on sale.

Even though traditionally, lucky bags are on sale at the beginning of January, some stores already sell them from Christmas.

When it comes to lucky bags, many of you may already have an image of clothing, stationery, coffee, snacks, or tea fukubukuro. However, the range of possible varieties of lucky bags doesn’t end there. Restaurants, omiyage (souvenir) and food stores, and many other places have cheap bags available every year.

And then, there's the fast-food restaurant chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken, also abbreviated as "Kenta" in Japan.

Kenta Fukubukuro 2022

From January 1st, 2022, the Kenta Lucky Bag (ケンタ福袋 Kenta Fukubukuro) will be on sale nationwide! Make sure to get to the store early because there is a limited quantity, and the KFC bags are popular and are quickly sold out!

What's inside?

The bag costs only 2,500 yen!

It includes an original bag with pockets in a simple design (colored in red and white), a KFC all-store voucher (that would have the equivalent of 2,870 yen separately), and a New Year gift coupon pass which you can use several times during the period mentioned.

The New Year gift coupon is called Otoshidama coupon pass.

Otoshidama (お年玉) is the word for gift money traditionally given to children in Japan during the New Year.

※Please note that the coupons are valid until March 31st, 2022, and they might differ depending on the store.

For more information, check the Japan KFC Official Website.