Wow...today was a ton of fun!

First of all, it is the 2nd day of the New Year here in Tokyo, and one of the most popular activities on this day is to shop till you drop.

In Japan, retail stores create what is known as a Lucky Bag (Fuku = lucky and bukuro = bag, paper bag, plastic bag, retail bag). The bag has a pre-marked selling price of 5000 yen ($50 USD), 10,000 yen ($100 USD), or as high as you can imagine.

Inside, there are usually many items valued at over 3-10 times the selling price. I will give you guys two examples of some of the bags I have gotten today.

The key here is the surprise, since buyers don't really know what is inside until they've made the purchase. It is kind of like gambling, except, you could at least minimize your risk by sticking to stores you know that have items that you want.

Anyway, on with my bags!!

Bag 1 - Mr. Donuts (1000 yen or $10 USD)

Yes, that is right. They sell lucky bags for donuts!!! I paid $10 and I got

-5x donuts (each priced between $1 to $1.35 normally)

-1x 2007 Calendar of Cute Donut Cartoon characters
-1x Mug
-1x 2007 Agenda with a pen
-1x small blanket for your legs
-1x small pouch/bag

-5x more donuts in coupon form so I can exchange them anytime within the next 3 months.



So I saved!! I normally buy donuts anyway so....I ended up getting more for the value.

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Bag #2 - Clothes (5,250 yen or $52.50 USD)

Here, I got

-1x Handbag
-2x Jean Skirts
-2x Coats (Brown and Black)
-2x Sweater Jackets (thin material for Spring)
-1x black sleeveless top

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Again, pretty good for the value if you ask me. My girl also bought a bag of clothes for about $70 USD for pieces of clothes including 2 jackets, 2 pants, a hand bag, a belt, and some tops with a scarf.

WE got home, tried them on, and decided to keep some clothes. The ones that didn't fit well, we separated them into two groups..

a) for my girlfriend's younger sister as gifts when we see her in 3 weeks.

b) for re-sell value as second-hand clothes at a second-hand shop down the street. We will go there on Friday and see if we can collect some cash back.

Overall, an awesome day.