2025 Japan House Lucky Bag Haul

Firstly, let me wish you a happy new year! I hope that this will be the greatest year so far.

I spent New Year’s Eve with my wife, and we made it to the top of a nearby hill from which we saw the fireworks for all of London. The spectacle was all around us, so it was a little bit magical.

The next day I woke up with a cloudy head and so I did not do much, but I did see that Japan House was selling lucky bags (福袋fukubukuro). I had heard about the concept a few times, so I was interested in getting one for myself.

Japan House offered their bags in three sizes / price points. I got the largest.

The first item I got was a traditional hand towel (pictured above), known as a tenugui. It features a design from Trainiart with illustrations focused on the Touhoku region. I have some homework to do if I want to discover why each of the illustrations were chosen.

The next item is the star of the show. It is a solid brass figurine of a hippo hand polished to a mirror finish, designed by Mitsumasa Kokubo for Nousaku. It has a satisfying weight and an alluring quality that makes it impossible to not pick up and smudge with fingerprints.

This was the hardest item to find information on. Initially I thought they might be wood samples but after some digging I found that they are cutlery rests from ‘Arts Craft Japan’ — a furniture maker in Takayama, Gifu. They supposedly invoke the feeling of the nearby city of Hida and after viewing some photos I can see a connection.

The largest item in the bag was this large-ish bowl. It has a rough texture. At first I thought that I might use it as a fruit bowl, but I think it may be a little too small. I hope that I might find a use for it.

There was also a small bowl, this one is around the size of a soap dish and has a very smooth texture. It also has the effect of looking blurry in real life.

This is a fork for eating wagashi, traditional Japanese sweets. It is called Tsurara, is made by Kisen, and is made from aluminium. The handle is a little rough which helps to prevent slipping.

This is a cute sake cup with a Shinkansen illustration and pairs nicely with the tengui.

I managed to find prices for everything apart from the cutlery rests. It looks like the contents of the bag are discounted from list prices by at least 60%. I am generally utilitarian minded, and I wouldn’t buy one outside of new year, but it was a lot of fun to get lots of surprise nice objects. I might be tempted to get one next year too!

If you want to buy one for yourself, then you can still buy them from their online store (until they run out I suppose). You can also visit them on Kensington High Street. Again, no idea when they will run out but they are usually worth a visit anyway.