Celebrate the start of a new year with one of the hardest-to-get lucky bags in Japan.

Towards the end of every year, Starbucks fans scramble to enter the lottery to purchase the chain’s lucky bag, or “fukubukuro” as these annual grab bags are known in Japanese. Only four out of 20 people in our team were lucky enough to receive a winning notification, giving them the privilege of purchasing the bag for 8,800 yen (US$55.83).

▼ The bag is packed in a box and delivered to the customer, or picked up from a designated branch, on New Year’s Day.

Our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma was one of the lucky lottery winners, and when he pulled the bag from the box, he grinned from ear to ear at seeing it in person.

▼ This is one of the hardest fukubukuro to get in Japan.

The tote bag is only the start of the limited-edition goods in the pack, so let’s take a look at everything it contains, starting with this cute little Starbucks pouch.

While the clear-sided case was sweet enough on its own, the four stickers inside sweetened the deal even further.

Next up, we have a so-called “bag-in-bag”, a handy pocketed item that you can pop into your handbag or backpack to keep things neat and organised.

No Starbucks lucky bag would be complete without some drinkware, and this bag had two items that any fan would be happy to receive.

▼ The Sakura 2024 Stainless Steel Bottle Baby Pink (473 millilitres [16 ounces]) was a limited-edition product sold during cherry blossom season, priced at 4,900 yen.

The next item was a tumbler, packed in a specially marked box that read “Let’s start the New Year with ‘My Tumbler'”, and in smaller print: “Starbucks Fukubukuro 2025 Stainless Bottle A 355 ml”.

▼ With this bag containing “Bottle A”, there’s a high chance that “B” and “C” tumblers exist, and are added to the bags at random.

Pulling the tumbler out of its box, the design was a beautiful one that Masanuki had never seen before.

▼ It also came with a handy strap and lid, making it easy to use on the go.

▼ Next up, we have a 250-gram pack of Pike Place Roast ground coffee…

▼ …and a voucher for a free 250-gram pack of coffee, valid until 4 July, 2025.

▼ Finally, we have seven drink vouchers, which can each be exchanged for a beverage priced up to 700 yen for dine-in or 687 yen for takeout.

With the vouchers representing 4,900 yen in value and the ground coffee usually priced at 1,320 yen, the coffee portion made up 7,540 yen of the bag’s value.

▼ That meant Masanuki got the tumblers, pouch and bags for 1,260 yen, which is a fantastic deal.

According to Starbucks, not all the lucky bags are the same, so although you’ll get the vouchers and coffee, the merchandise in each bag may differ slightly to what Masanuki received.

▼ Masanuki’s favourite item was the tumbler.

With three other members of our team winning the lottery for a Starbucks fukubukuro, we aim to take a peek into their bags soon to see just how different their goods are, so stay tuned for more updates!

Photos © SoraNews24 
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