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Yes, in Japan, even IKEA offers new year’s lucky bags — join us to find out what goodies were in their fukubukuro this year!

As regular RocketNews24 readers have no doubt noticed, the new year has brought us a slew of interesting fukubukuro lucky bags from practically every kind of shop imaginable, some pretty exciting and some just ordinary, but usually providing relatively good value for money. Multi-national furniture retailing giant IKEA is no exception, and we decided to brave the crowds to get our hands on two of their lucky bags, the “Kitchen Goods Lucky Bag“and the “IKEA Food Lucky Bag“. As both lucky bags were going to be available only in limited numbers, we waited in line from 6:30 in the morning on January 1 to make sure we could buy them, and here’s what we got!

The Kitchen Goods Lucky Bag included the following items for 2,000 yen (US$16.75) :

・Special Coupon (1,000 yen off for purchases over 10,000 yen made on January 2)
・Chopping board
・Set of three small containers
・Plastic container
・Set of four spice jars
・Five-piece cookie cutter set
・Tray
・Jar with lid
・Paper napkins (2 packages x 30 pieces)

▼ Here’s the Kitchen Goods Lucky Bag!

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▼A look at the entire contents of the bag:

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▼ The wooden chopping board looks like it should fit in well in any type of kitchen.

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▼The set of three small containers should be convenient for storing various items including dry ingredients like chili peppers and bay leaves.

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▼ This white plastic container should be relatively easy to match with any kind of decor.

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▼Lining up different-colored spices in these jars should look very attractive.

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▼ These fun cookie cutters should help you with your baking needs.

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▼ And how about a large tray for your breakfast in bed!

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▼ You can use this jar to store … well, whatever you like, we guess.

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▼Paper napkins in different colors and prints are always useful.

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So that’s what we found in the Kitchen Goods Lucky Bag. The most expensive item was the 1,299 yen ($10.87) tray, and we have to admit that when we bought the bag, we felt particularly excited because of how heavy the package was, but we know now that the tray was the big reason why the bag was so hefty. We just hope we’re able to enjoy plenty of leisurely breakfasts in bed using the tray! Among all the goods, we felt we liked the set of three small containers and the paper napkins the most. In particular, the small containers also work as magnets, so they can be stuck onto your refrigerator, which should be quite convenient … we think.

Now, on to our second purchase, the 2,016 yen IKEA Food Lucky Bag!

Here are the items that were in the bag:

・Hot Dog buns (10 pieces)
・Sausages (10 pieces, with cooking instructions to make them especially tasty)
・Fried onions (100 grams [3.5 ounces])
・Double chocolate crisps (600 grams [21 ounces])
・Blueberry and Raspberry smoothie (200 milliliters [6.8 ounces] x 3 packs)
・Apple and strawberry smoothie  (200 milliliters [6.8 ounces] x 3 packs)

▼Here’ s the IKEA Food Lucky Bag …

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▼ … and all of its contents!

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▼ You’ll need these hot dog buns to recreate the IKEA hot dogs at home.

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▼ And of course, you have to have the sausages too. And these even come with instructions so that you can cook them just right!14
▼ The fried onions should make a great addition to your hot dogs, or maybe your salad!

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▼ These double chocolate crisps will take care of your sweet tooth.

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▼ And last but not least, you get two different types of fruit smoothies for some healthy drinking options.

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So, there you have the items that were included in the IKEA Food Lucky Bag. It wasn’t bad, actually, and we think we were happier with this selection than the Kitchen Goods Lucky Bag. It’s great to be able to make your own IKEA hot dog at home, after all, and the sausage cooking instructions were also a nice touch! We admit we were slightly surprised by how big the double chocolate crisps were, but in our books, bigger is better than smaller when it comes to all things sweet, so we’re not complaining!

All in all, we were we were quite satisfied with our purchases, which clearly offered more value than the price of the lucky bags. That said, these are “lucky bags”, and they may not all contain the same items, so anyone buying lucky bags at IKEA in the future may want to keep in mind that there is a chance you’ll end up with a relatively large piece of furniture that you don’t need or want. May the shopping gods smile on you in 2016!

Original article by: Sunakoma Masanuki
Photos © RocketNews24
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