There’s one downfall to this massive gyudon haul.  

There are times when our reporter Seiji Nakazawa loses his cool, and one of those times was when he read the description for this year’s fukubukuro (“lucky bag”) from the Matsuya beef bowl restaurant chain on marketplace site Rakuten.

The message read:

“★[A shocking 65 percent off when you use the coupon! An astonishing 210 yen per meal! Total price for each item: 18,050 yen → 6,290 yen!] 2024 Fukubukuro New Year’s Lucky Bag Matsuya New Year’s Gourmet Lucky Bag with Wholehearted Sweepstakes 16 Types, 30 Meals Sweepstakes Gourmet Beef Rice Commercial Gyudon Beef Bowl Ingredients Frozen Meat Frozen Food Free Shipping Allowance Deli Dishes Side Dishes Frozen Year-end Gift”

Did you catch all that? It was such an annoyingly convoluted description that Seiji almost clicked off the page in exasperation, but then the content of the message suddenly sunk in — a massive discount on Matsuya beef bowls!

A 65-percent discount on gyudon is enough to forgive the long title, so Seiji clicked “buy” and within days, this box arrived on his doorstep.

The purchase price of 6,290 yen (US$43.42) was 291 yen more than last year’s Matsuya fukubukuro, which was priced at 5,999 yen, but it was still a bargain for what it contained.

The contents were as follows:

Gyumeshi (Beef Rice Bowl) Ingredients – Premium Type x 7 servings
Gyumeshi Ingredients with Lactic Acid Bacteria – Premium Type x 1 serving
Low-carbohydrate Gyumeshi Ingredients x 1 serving
Butameshi (Pork Rice Bowl) Ingredients x 1 bag
Original Curry x 7 bags
Gyumeshi Burger x 1
Tonkatsu Rice Burger x 1
Shogayaki (Grilled Pork with Ginger) x 1
Grilled Beef Offal x 1
Sangen Pork Loin Cutlet x 1
Matsuken Chinese Restaurant Gyoza x 2
Gelato x 3 types, 1 serving of each
Grilled Rice Noodles x 2
Hakata Motsu Nabe (Offal Hotpot) x 1 set, 2 servings

Last year’s fukubukuro contained pretty much the same ingredients but this year’s Premium Gyumeshi Toppings had increased in number, much to the delight of Seiji, who tends to enjoy these packs more than anything else.

For around 40 bucks, this was a great haul, but after inspecting everything a little closer, he has one word of caution for anyone thinking of purchasing this fukubukuro.

▼ Beware the expiration dates.

As the above image shows, the expiration dates vary, with the Hakata Motsu Nabe good until 15 February, and the premium Gyumeshi packs expiring much later, on 20 July.

So if you’re thinking of stocking these for a long time, in the hopes your splurge might last you half a year, you’ll want to check the dates on all the packs and store them accordingly, with the earliest dates near the top of your haul.

The other thing to note is that the deep discount may not be available at all retail sites, as Seiji was only able to purchase the bundle at this low price through the top page of Matsuya Foods’ Rakuten Market store.

The only trouble is you’ll have to face the loooong description in the title without losing your cool. But hey, for this many beef bowls and other delicious Matsuya goods, Seiji isn’t complaining. Now if only they would sell these bundles from a Matsuya vending machine like this one, he would be a very happy man!

Reference link: Matsuya Rakuten Market store
Photos © SoraNews24
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