Start the New Year right with this once-in-a-year gift from the world-famous ramen chain.

As we kick off the New Year at the start of a new decade, many people around us have been vowing to lose weight and eat better after binge-eating over the holidays. Here at SoraNews24, though, the calorie-rich meals continue as we hunt down some of the best fukubukuro lucky bag bargains from some of Japan’s most popular fast food and restaurant chains.

For us, that means a visit to ramen chain Ippudo is in order, because although not many people know it, this world-famous tonkotsu bone-broth noodle specialist actually offers lucky bags at only a select few of their outlets at New Year.

Our Japanese-language reporter Sean was lucky enough to find one of the elusive bags, priced at 3,000 yen (US$27.75), and after taking it home and opening it up, he found he’d already made all his money back, in the form of six 500-yen discount coupons.

That wasn’t the end of the surprises, though, as the bag also contained a bottle of Ippudo’s famous hot bean sprout sauce…

And a pack each of Akamaru and Shiromaru noodles, two of the top-selling items on the menu at Ippudo.

The bag itself was a cute keepsake, and “One bowl, one smile, one arigato” perfectly summed up Sean’s feelings towards the ramen chain and its fukubukuro for this year.

With Ippudo, Yoshinoya, Ikea, Mister Donut and Krispy Kreme all bringing out calorific foods for New Year, we’re beginning to pile on the pounds like a modern-day Totoro. Oh wait, that’s right — there’s a fukubukuro dedicated to him too!

Photos: ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]