With over 20 ice creams inside, this is a great way to start 2023!

Häagen-Dazs is a famous high-end ice cream so popular in Japan that special Japan-only flavours have been released here. So what does the brand have in store for customers at New Year? Why, a fukubukuro lucky bag, of course! And this one is a particularly good deal, as it’s filled with ice creams that are 50 percent off what you’d normally pay for them.

▼ The only catch is it’s only available at the Häagen-Dazs store at the Gotemba Outlet Mall in Shizuoka Prefecture.

As expected, long queues of people were already lining up to purchase a bag at the store when it opened for business on New Year’s Day.

This year, two types of bags were available: Happy Bag A, priced at 3,400 yen (US$25.97), and Happy Bag B, priced at 2,300 yen. Both were packed up in branded reusable totes, and we decided to splurge on the more expensive one.

Last year’s fukubukuro was a slightly better deal, as the discount rate was 55 percent compared to this year’s 50 percent. However, when we opened the bag, we didn’t mind that at all, because this year’s bag had way more variety than the one we received last year.

▼ So many flavours that weren’t in last year’s lucky bag!

The standout products were the Sweet Terrace box, which contains three flavours and was first released in March 2021, and the Caramel Party bars, which debuted in July of the same year.

The mini tubs were also a delight to behold, with a dozen in total, covering six flavours, including some of the Japan-exclusive mochi flavours; a nice addition for New Year, when mochi is traditionally eaten.

If you include the Sweet Terrace tubs, there were 22 pieces in total — 18 tubs, two bars, and two Crispy Sandwiches.

The entire bag was a fantastic deal, considering a mini tub on its own usually costs around 319 yen. Now we’ll just have to make room in our freezer to accommodate all these ice creams, so we can enjoy them throughout winter while sitting at the kotatsu, as is the Japanese way!

Photos ©SoraNews24
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