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Things get heavy with the Gold Lucky Bag from Village Vanguard

All that is gold does not glitter.Village Vanguard is a popular chain of novelty goods stores often found in Japanese shopping malls. It’s a fun place to browse through, but not really a place to go for daily necessities unless yours include things like ouija board shoulder bags.Village Vanguard is also a terrible blight on our office, as every year they send us free fukubukuro lucky bags full of various merchandise. That might sound like a great thing, but their lucky bags are quite uniqu

What makes a good boss in Japan? Workers sound off in survey

Technical expertise ranks far below other qualities Japanese workers want in a boss.Work life is a big part of life in Japan. With a culture that emphasizes professional pride and personal responsibility, plus the long hours that come with many jobs in Japan, the quality of your workplace environment can have a huge impact on your overall happiness.There are a lot of factors that go into determining work satisfaction, but it’s pretty much impossible to have a good job without a good boss. That’s

Top Japanese cosplayer Enako returns to Comiket after 6 years, creates mayhem with admirers

The infamous Enako Ring turns into a road as fans swarm venue to catch a glimpse of her. In the diverse and many storied world of Japanese cosplayers there’s one who stands head and shoulders above the rest, and her name is Enako. Dubbed Japan’s best cosplayer, Enako’s status is on a whole other level as fansconsistently gather in huge numbers to catch a glimpse of her whenever she appears, especially at events like Comic Market, or Comiket as it’s commonly known.The last

Private booths are coming to Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains even sooner than we’d thought【Video】

Extra-luxurious travel mode returning to Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka bullet train route for first time in over two decades.Japan is in a bit of a dormant season right now as far as travel is concerned. With the New Year’s vacation season over and the weather at its coldest, most people aren’t looking to do any extensive domestic traveling for a while, and many would-be foreign tourists are back at school/work after their Christmas breaks.However, Central Japan Railway Company, AKA JR Central, and also AKA

The Purple Lucky Bag from Village Vanguard is an extra-large waste of money

It really puts the “fuk” and “u” back into “fukubukuro.”Lucky bags, also known as “fukubukuro” in Japanese, are a really fun New Year’s tradition that puts a little zing into holiday shopping. These bags contain an assortment of goods from a certain store or brand, which are typically worth more than the price of the bag, so it’s hard to be disappointed by one.But one store that seems hellbent on disappointing as many people as possible

Rakuten randomly offers 58 New Year’s osechi feasts in Japan, but did we get a star or a dud?

Will Ikuna go big or go home with her New Year’s feast this year?Our Japanese-language writer Ikuna Kamezawa has an annual custom of purchasing an osechi fukubukuro, or New Year’s feast lucky bag, from Rakuten. The price is fixed at a uniform 12,345 yen (US$79), which includes tax and the cost of shipping, but some entries out of the 58 total possibilities are worth more than others. This year, the cheapest one is worth 17,776 yen while the most expensive one is worth a whopping 600,

Tokyo fish market breaks New Year auction record as single fish sells for over 5 million yen【Vid】

Casual sushi restaurant chain spends big on Toyosu Market’s first day of 2026.In Japan, there’s a special significance attached to many firsts of the year. People often think that the first dream they have while sleeping in the new year is a portent of their fortune to come over the next 12 months, and many people make a point of choosing something unique or symbolic for their first purchase in January.Then there’s the social phenomenon of ichiban maguro, or the “number-one tuna.” Like many busi

Four Shinto shrines to pray for love at in Japan to start the New Year

Whether you’re looking for a new love or to take an existing one to the next level, the gods are ready to help you at these four Shinto spots.In Japan, it’s customary to start off the new year be going to a Shinto shrine to pray for good fortune in the new year. While many are thought to convey a vague blessing of overall prosperity, some shrines have become famous for their purported effects of enmusubi.Enmusubi translates literally to “tying together connections” and refers to making good inte

Majority of Japanese mayors say foreign residents are essential but most see good and bad effects

Civic leaders see economic upsides and cultural difficulties in Japan’s accelerating internationalization.Japanese society has been internationalizing at an accelerated rate in recent years, with not only the numbers of foreign tourists and short-term students in the country reaching record highs but also the number of long-term non-Japanese residents. This is a major change for a nation that’s been largely ethnically homogenous for so much of its history, and a recent survey of mayors of cities

Village Vanguard’s most expensive Black Lucky Bag sets an ominous tone for 2026

I see a bag of goods and it’s all painted black.It’s the start of the new year, and that means it’s the season for fukubukuro, Japanese lucky bags sold at retailers big and small in Japan. Regular readers are well aware that we review as many of these as possible during New Year’s, and one store that frequently appears in these features is Village Vanguard. This novelty goods shop can be found in most malls across the country and sells a truly random assortment of goods,

Should you dip your cake in sake? One Japanese brewer says no, but actually yes【 Taste test】

145-year-old Niigata brewery gives us some confusing but intriguing advice.The brewery Kikusui Shuzo has been in business in Niigata Prefecture in 1881, so they know a thing or two about making sake. We figure they’ve also got a lot of people on their staff who know a thing or two about the best ways to drink sake too, so we’re inclined to take their advice on how to enjoy their products, such as their flagship premium canned sake, Kikusui Funaguchi.▼ Kikusui FunaguchiSo ordinarily we’d have tak

Play games, learn, and get your fortune at Ginza’s limited-time Tsunaguu “Shrine of the Future”

Even better, it’s a completely free way to spend some time in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza shopping district.Ginza 456, created by major Japanese telecommunications operator KDDI, is a futuristic facility in the heart of Tokyo’s Ginza district that uses interactive, cutting-edge technology in its various exhibit and retail spaces, often producing events in collaboration with the pioneers at TeamLab.One of Ginza 456’s current offerings for approximately six months is Tsunaguu (繋宮

Japanese beef bowl chain Sukiya’s 2026 Smile Box lucky bag basically pays for itself

This year’s lucky bag is all about everyday usefulness.Every New Year in Japan, lucky bags (“fukubukuro”) appear everywhere, often with some great deals. We always like to keep an eye on some of our most frequently visited establishments to see what offers they have in store for us every year. For a few years now, our Japanese-language reporter Saya Togashi has been snapping up a lucky bag from the nationwide beef bowl chain Sukiya, who wants everyone to ring in the New Year with a smile.▼ With

What did Shibuya really look like after the crowds on New Year’s Day?

Police kill the party vibe at this tourist hotspot, but the city still has its problems.For most locals, Tokyo’s Shibuya scramble crossing is simply a place to cross the street. In the eyes of visitors, however, the bright lights and buzz of the crowds makes it an exciting place to hang out, especially on big occasions like Halloween and New Year’s Eve.The city isn’t too happy about the unofficial street parties, though, and so has been clamping down on festivities by setting u

Cup Noodle tries an authentic Jiro-style ramen, but something’s not quite right

Some assembly required.It’s safe to say that Cup Noodle is the king of instant ramen. It’s not legally a generic trademark like escalator or trampoline, but in many parts of the world, the name Cup Noodle is synonymous with any dried noodles that require three minutes of soaking in hot water before eating.Considering this, you’d think the makers of Cup Noodle at Nissin would be perfectly happy to rest on these laurels and watch the money roll in. However, they come up with such

That time Seiji called JASRAC to ask why he didn’t get paid royalties for his song being on TV

Despite Seiji’s copyrighted music playing on TV for the first time, why didn’t he get a big, fat check?!Our resident pro musician Japanese-language writer, Seiji Nakazawa, has made decent progress the past couple of years in terms of his musical talent finally gaining some recognition. From hearing idols sing a song that he composed live to receiving his first-ever royalties from JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers), Japan’s largest copyrig

We revisited Sweets Paradise after a decade to see if Japan’s dessert buffet still delivers

Can it make both your stomach and wallet happy?Sweets Paradise is the dreamlike, all-you-can-eat dessert chain where sweets lovers can enjoy the sugar rush of their lives at very reasonable prices. Our Japanese-language reporter with a sweet tooth Takuya Inaba often patronized the store when he was a student, relying on its 70-minute course to feed his stomach and get him through his studies.Back then, about ten years ago, the course cost around 1,500 yen (US$9.60), but with the economy being as

Hayao Miyazaki says Happy New Year to Studio Ghibli fans with new art for Year of the Horse

2026 nengajo drawing comes with a never-before-seen photo of the legendary anime director.There are many things we look forward to at the start of a new year in Japan, like lucky bags, special foods, and New Year’s cards known as nengajo, which are commonly sent to relatives, friends and colleagues to wish them good tidings for the upcoming year.Though nengajo have seen a decline since the rise of social media messaging, one person who still keeps the tradition alive is Hayao Miyazaki. Eve

The best Starbucks Japan Frappuccinos we want to drink again in 2026

A round-up of the best limited-edition drinks Starbucks served up in Japan this past year.Starbucks released a lot of bold drinks last year, but for us there were some that shone brighter than others. After looking back at the year that was, we realised there were five in particular that we’d gladly drink again, so as we gear up for another 12 months of Starbucks surprises, we’re sharing our top five picks, in the hopes that they might receive a revival in the coming year.▼THE Strawb

Harajuku’s new permanent Tamagotchi shop is filled with cuteness and a surprising lack of poop

The colorful displays and activities make Tamagotchi feel a lot less stressful than what we remember.If you grew up in the late ‘90s or early 2000s, it’s quite likely you’ll feel an instant twang of nostalgia when you hear the word “Tamagotchi.” The sole purpose of these handheld, egg-shaped digital pets was to be taken care of. You could feed them, clean up after them, and if you neglected them, you would watch them perish.The tamagotchi craze passed, only to have a resurgence within the last d