The success of the "fukubukuro"
'Fukubukuro' means “surprise bags” or “lucky bags” and they are paper sacks in which many stores put products for the consumer without them knowing what they contain.
These Fukubukuros began to become a tradition since the 20th century when department stores arrived in Japan. They do this to get rid of products from their inventory at the beginning of the year.
Sales of these bags start on January 1st and continue for up to 1 week after or until the 'fukubukuro' are gone, and they can cost from a couple to hundreds of dollars.
They are usually not randomly filled with bad leftover products, they usually have quality products that would typically cost significantly more if purchased separately.