lifestyle

Uniqlo Japan’s lucky bag creates chaos at Tokyo store

17 Comments
By Oona McGee, SoraNews24

As one year gives way to another in Japan, people around the country begin the annual hunt for the best fukubukuro lucky bags, a tradition where bundles of goods are sold at a discount to help celebrate the new year.

One fukubukuro that a lot of people had their eye on since it was announced in December was the Uniqlo lucky bag, which was priced at 3,000 yen and limited to only 50 pieces, due to be sold only at the global flagship store in Tokyo’s posh Ginza district.

Our reporter Seiji Nakazawa decided to brave the crowds and go into battle for one of the sought-after limited-edition bags, but as soon as he arrived at Ginza to make his way to Uniqlo an hour before it opened on Jan 2, he wondered if he’d made the right decision.

As he headed towards his destination, he passed by some of the top department stores in the area, and there were already huge queues forming outside them, as seen in the photo above, of Ginza Mitsukoshi, and below, of Matsuya Ginza.

Uniqlo-Japan-Lucky-b.jpg

Seiji wondered if maybe he should’ve arrived earlier. After all, there were only 50 Uniqlo lucky bags being made, so what would happen if there were more than 50 people in line outside by the time he got there?

These thoughts grew stronger as he quickened his step and rounded the corner towards Uniqlo, but when he arrived, he was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief, as there were only around nine people in line.

Uniqlo-Japan-Lucky-b.jpg

▼ Seiji joined the queue and began the hour-long wait for the store to open.

Uniqlo-Japan-Lucky-b.jpg

The minutes ticked by, and the line gradually grew to around 25 or 30 people by 11 a.m., when the store was set to open. Soon after, one of the front doors opened and staff appeared, guiding everyone to have their temperatures checked and hands sanitised before entering.

It was a calm and orderly opening, which Seiji was grateful for, but just as his turn came to be temperature-checked by staff, another staff member opened the second front door and all hell broke loose. People behind him scrambled to enter through the newly opened door, and when one person dashed through, the others followed, with a lot of people rushing past the temperature checkpoint and hand sanitisers unchecked.

▼ Staff shouldn’t have opened both these front doors.

Uniqlo-Japan-Lucky-b.jpg

By the time Seiji made his way up to the lucky bag corner, the scene was already chaotic. If things had gone according to plan, Seiji would’ve been 10th in place and able to choose between the small, medium, large and extra large bags, so-called for the sizes of clothing inside them.

Instead, Seiji was surrounded by more than a dozen people, all scrambling to get their hands on bags in their desired sizes, and a voice calling out “All medium sizes are sold out!”

Seiji glanced at his watch and saw it was 11:08 a.m., which meant the medium lucky bags had all sold out in eight minutes.

For once in his life, Seiji was glad to not be an M size, and he was able to swipe the L size bag he wanted off the shelf just as another pair of hands was reaching for it.

It was a tough fight, but Seiji returned to the office triumphant, keen to show us all what he’d reaped in battle that day.

For 3,000 yen, and an hour in line, Seiji scored the following items:

  • AIRism 3D Mask
  • Uniqlo Tokyo Original Eco Bag
  • Uniqlo Tokyo Original T-shirt
  • UTme! Original T-shirt Creation Plain T-shirt
  • Ginza Monotsunagi Project Special Leaflet
  • Ginza Monotsunagi Project Special Keychain
  • Ginza Monotsunagi Project T-shirt
  • 500 yen Coupon Ticket to use on the second and third floors of the Marronnier Gate department store
  • Coupons to use at famous stores in Ginza (Matsuzaki Shoten, Kobikicho Yoshiya, Kurashi no Kaori, Kyukyodo, G.G. Press)
  • Kurashi no Kaori Hand Soap & Hand Milk Samples
  • Drink Ticket for Ginza Senbikiya

Seiji’s bounty was well earnt, unlike those won by unscrupulous fighters who cut in line at the scene of the battle. Despite the mayhem, our reporter is just glad there weren’t more people in line that day, or else there may have been bruises and broken shelves.

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Mayhem at Uniqlo in Japan as customers fight to grab the Jil Sander collection

-- Mr. Sato comes out of retirement to wait for the iPhone X three days in advance

-- Pokémon-themed doughnut lucky bag is filled with sweet surprises

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

17 Comments
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Heavens! It seems that some Japanese people have a lot of time on their hands. Can't they spend their minutes and hours doing something constructive, like sleeping?

-1 ( +8 / -9 )

Why are these pieces always written in the 3rd person? It’s so weird. It’s almost laughable. Reporting on what your own reporter reported lol.

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

Those people are different, queuing and you are different, sleeping. Everyone has their own opinion, ideas and mindset.

If Japan has hidden ugly truth, so do every country. It's same everywhere, just the different colors.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

The idea that Japanese people are somehow especially patient, polite or kind is held only by tourists and those new to the country. Scratch the surface of Japan and the ugly truth is soon revealed.

Just because you had bad experiences you cannot generalize, get over it and meet more kind people, you will surely find them..

1 ( +8 / -7 )

This is the saddest thing I've read today. The fanaticism some people have over the most mundane of things is a tad worrying. Were these lucky bags really worth risking catching covid and throwing polite social manners out the window?

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

Aren't most lucky bags just leftover stock that the store couldn't sell anyway?

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Aren't most lucky bags just leftover stock that the store couldn't sell anyway?

Maybe sometimes, but more often they are even intentionally and cheaply pre-produced in numbers and outside of Japan, so that you really can catch one even if you are not the first standing in the winter cold in those early morning queues, and of course the value and quality is at best equal but often lower of what you are maybe happily paying for it. It’s hopefully clear that only a very few flagship stores or financially stronger market participants can afford to make a small present, all others also want to generate quite a profit from those New Year’s ‘lucky’ bags.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Living in Tokyo and liking shopping well enough, I never really caught on to fukubukuro trend every new year. Yeah, there are times when there are actually really good deals like iPads plus accessories for like 10,000 yen but most of the time I find them including stuff I don't really need, want or even will want eventually.

Each to his/her own, I guess.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

It's fun. There is nothing wrong with a bit of shopping spirit and trying to compete for some limited items. Commenters should get over it and stop being so negative all the time. There is nothing wrong with humans doing what they want. We aren't machines. We can waste our time however we want and free to choose to how to spend our days on this earth. The fact that people expect everyone to live perfectly is nonense. Life is suppose to be full of ups and downs. Some get happy able to get the items, some get disappointed but would try again next year. Life is suppose to be unpredictable and chaotic.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Yawn. Next!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

if you're wondering why some japanese people's home is such a hoard house, one of the reasons is from all the lucky bags they buy... ppl here are obsessed with lucky bags!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Thomas Goodtime:

So unbelievably sad

They are having just a good time. What makes you so "sad"?

2 ( +5 / -3 )

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