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What’s inside Starbucks Japan’s fukubukuro lucky bag for 2026?
A bundle so sought after we had to resort to unprecedented methods to get one. Out of all the many fukubukuro (“lucky bags”) that appear in Japan to celebrate New Year, the bundle from Starbucks is always one of the most highly sought after. Its immense popularity, however, makes it incredibly hard to get, especially after the chain recently introduced a lottery application system, and this year nobody on our 22-member strong team was able to purchase one.Usually, at least one of our
How lucky are the themed retro video game lucky bags from this shop in the Tokyo boonies?
Love, conquest, existence, and gatherings.When it comes to shopping for retro video games, you might think your best bet is to scour the back alleys of Tokyo’s Akihabara or another one of Japan’s major urban city centers. However, some of the best bargains are hidden way outside of downtown, out in the countryside-adjacent suburbs of Japan’s sleepy commuter towns. With fancy leisure options fewer and farther between than in the big cities, there’s a voracious appetite among locals for all sorts
Starbucks Japan releases new Frappuccino and latte for Valentine’s Day
This limited-edition romance is said to be deeply delicious.With 2026 barely underway, Starbucks is already looking ahead to the next big event on the calendar by unveiling two new limited-edition drinks for Valentine’s Day. Designed to brighten up the season of romance, the new beverages are filled with the deep, rich flavour of cacao, adding a high-quality sweetness to a wide range of palates, regardless of whether you’re looking for love or celebrating with a partner.The Cacao &am
Bamboo trees vandalized near Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari shrine, foreign graffiti prevalent
Shinto shrine in Kyoto has become globally famous for its beauty, but inconsiderate visitors are ruining the view for everyone but themselves.Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Taisha, or Fushimi Inari Shrine, is one of the most distinctly beautiful places in all of Japan. Walking paths wind up and around the mountain that the shrine’s main building sits at the base of, with tunnels of torii gates and dense bamboo forests making for an unforgettable visual experience.It’s hard to imagine anyone visiting Fush
Say hello to Japan’s new stationmaster cat!【Video】
Feline railway legacy continues with two kitties inaugurated as stationmasters in Wakayama Prefecture.For more than a month, the position of stationmaster had been vacant at Kishi Station in Wakayama Prefecture. That might seem like a major oversight by rail operator Wakayama Electric Railway, but there was an unusual required qualification that made this restaffing project uniquely challenging for the company: candidates had to be cats.Kishi Station is in the town of Kinokawa, a relatively rura
Princess Mononoke magnets return just in time to treat yourself to awesome anime decorations
They couldn’t make it in time for Christmas, but we’re glad these Studio Ghibli stars are here now.Today, let’s take a look at a great example of “Better late than never,” coming courtesy of Studio Ghibli classic Princess Mononoke. Had these amazing magnets of the mask of the anime film’s titular heroine and her animal costars been available a month earlier, they’d have made great stocking stuffers for any lovers of Japanese animation on your Christmas listAlas, as is often the case with the awe
Japan’s Valentine’s Day gets extra cute with the return of KitKat Heartful Bear【Photos】
This year, KitKat is bringing everyday goods like pouches, tumblers, and towels to make the holiday feel much more adorable.Valentine’s Day in Japan has long been synonymous with the exchange of chocolate, usually from girls to boys. However, a returning collaboration between Japanese lifestyle brand Afternoon Tea Living and Nestle’s adorable KitKat Heartful Bear is seeking to add a lineup of cute gifts to give to your romantic interest, or keep for yourself.The Heartful Bear is a bear-shaped ve
Umamusume anime girl plushie recalled for having parts she absolutely should not have【Pics】
Nope, no horse girl is supposed to have those.At the end of December, the winter iteration of Comiket, Japan’s largest anime/manga convention, was held in Tokyo. Among the exhibitor at the show was Gift, a Japanese company that specializes in anime character plushies.Among the products Gift brought with them to sell were 20-centimeter (7.9-inch) tall plushies of Vivlos, one of the anthropomorphic horse girls from anime franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby. At 6,500 yen (US$43), it’s not exorbitantl
Our 52-year-old pole dancing reporter shares his tips for achieving your New Year’s exercise goal
Starting in his 40s and still going strong, Mr. Sato offers realistic tips for anyone trying to shift some extra weight this year.With the holidays over, you’re most likely feeling more refreshed, and ready to take on the new year and all it brings one step at a time, although perhaps those steps might be… a little heavier than they were a couple of weeks ago. For many people like this, myself included, we often look at the new year as an opportunity for change, a chance to better ourselves, lea
We ate sushi made from Japan’s most expensive tuna ever【Taste test】
Tokyo’s record-breaking New Year’s Day fish market auction tuna arrives at one of Japan’s favorite casual sushi restaurant chains.Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market takes the first few days of the year off, but their opening day, which fell on January 5 this year, is a big deal. The opening day auction sees the highest bids for tuna of the entire year, and the fish that fetches the highest price on that day is dubbed the ichiban maguro, or “number-one tuna.”Until now, the highest price paid for an ichi
10 times to avoid traveling in Japan in 2026
A list of Japan’s three-day weekends plus two vacation periods to dodge if you want to miss the crowds and high prices.A lot of things in life are a matter of perspective, and that includes when the best and worst times to travel are. For example, if you’re working in a Japanese company or going to school in Japan, it’s probably going to be easiest to schedule your travel plans in a way that utilizes Japan’s public holidays and three-day weekends, since you won’t need to be in the office or in c
This quiet forest cafe in Japan lets you read all day in the house of a famous author
Novelist Osamu Dazai’s relocated house now invites visitors in to drink coffee, and disappear into books.Books are wonderful gateways to worlds of fantastic realms, devious deeds, and whirlwind romances, but often the distractions of the real world keep us from fully secluding ourselves in the happenings on the pages, so many of us look for a time or place that we can set aside for the stories in our hands. We at SoraNews24 recently discovered a serene retreat in which you can devote your
Here’s what our bachelor writers ate over the New Year’s holiday in Japan
New Year’s in Japan usually involves lots of food and special dishes, so how did our handful of single guys celebrate this year?New Year’s Eve (Omisoka) and New Year’s Day (Ganjitsu) in Japan are a time for staying at home, unwinding, and perhaps more than anything, eating. After a whirlwind of end-of-the-year deep-cleaning and cooking customs, the goal is to relax as much as possible, which also means eating as much as you want as if the calories don’t count.While some f
Ramen restaurant’s English menu prices are nearly double its Japanese ones, denies discriminating
Ex-martial artist owner claims higher prices on non-Japanese menu are for safety reasons.A complicated aspect of Japan’s inbound foreign tourism boom is, ironically, that some of the most simple pleasures in Japan are proving extremely popular with tourists. So while there isn’t much grumbling or hand-wringing over increased demand from tourists flush with cash driving up demand, and in turn prices, for things like top-grade wagyu steaks, when price-creep pressures start occurring for things lik
Nearly one in ten young adults living in Japan isn’t ethnically Japanese, statistics show
Japan’s young adult foreign national population is soaring while its ethnically Japanese counterpart is shrinking.The biggest demographic shifts taking place in Japan are the country’s aging population and the surge in the number of foreign residents, and there are actually a few age-related quirks involved in that second development too.Unlike some other nations, Japan doesn’t have an easy framework for foreign retirees looking to spend their senior years in the country. At the same time, in re
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