Fukubukuro In Hawaii!

Fukubukuro is an annual Japanese New Year's tradition that is popular in Hawaii! These are fun mystery/surprise bags sold at a big discount. Here's how the tradition works and an example of fukubukuro at a local shop ^_^

Hawaii locals know and love fukubukuro! At the start of each year (usually on January 1st or 2nd), many shops sell mystery bags.

These bags are priced at a big discount and you usually get at least double what you pay. Eg. a $50 bag will have $100 or more worth of product.

All types of shops participate. Clothing shops, bags shops, food shops, etc. Even the malls go all in. Ala Moana posts a big list of all the fukubukuro stores and people make a whole day of it. It's super fun to walk the mall on fukubukuro days because you can see everyone excitedly opening their fukubukuro bags right outside the shops.

Fukubukuro at The Rice Factory

Here's my 2025 fukubukuro experience at The Rice Factory!

Depending on the store, you might have to go early because some stores sell out fast. I went one hour after Rice Factory opened and there were still many bags left. It's hard to figure our which stores will sell fast and which won't. Go on the early side if you can.

They offered two different bags: $55 and $100.

The idea is that you get at least double your value. The $55 bag has $110 (or more) worth of product. The $100 bag has $200 or more worth of product.

I debated SO hard whether to get the $55 or $100 bag. In the end I bought the $55 bag. I felt it was too "risky" to buy a $100 bag without knowing what was inside haha.

Once you pick the bag value, they ask what color ribbon you want. This was new to me! If you look closely at the bag, each one has a red or white ribbon tied to the handle (it's super thin and subtle). They don't tell you what's the difference, but you just pick a ribbon color.

I picked the red ribbon bag. But then was immediately curious what was inside the white bag!

Luckily Justin also happened to buy a fukubukuro bag. We had breakfast together that morning and then missed each other at the store by 30 minutes! Neither of us knew the other was planning to buy fukubukuro here haha.

Justin purchased the $55 white ribbon bag so we were able to trade pictures and compare the difference.

Each bag also came with a 2 pound bag of rice. And a container of fresh pounded mochi. Two beautiful pieces! Good luck for the new year.

What's Inside The Fukubukuro?

I drove home to show my mom the bag. We were both so excited. She is also a big The Rice Factory fan! We enjoyed the fresh mochi with tea and opened the fukubukuro bag right away.

Here's what was inside:

• Furikake made of ume, shiso, and natto.
• Smoked and pickled radish.
• Bonito tsukudani, simmered and preserved tuna.
• Barley miso.
• Red bean paste from Hokkaido.
• Sushi vinegar - I used this to make sushi cake!
• Brown rice amazake (the tall bottle on the right).
• Tomato-apple sauce. Topping for hamburger steak, katsu, cabbage rolls, etc.
• Fish shaped dish sponge, so cute!
• 2 pound bag of rice
• 2 pieces fresh pounded mochi (in the round container)

Pretty good value for $55 right? This bag had a mix of new-to-me ingredients and items I already had (like the furikake, sushi vinegar, rice, and dish sponge...happy to have double since we cook so much at home). The rice and mochi were nice "bonuses."

Overall I was very happy with this bag! Will likely purchase a 2026 fukubukuro bag from them next year ^_^

White Ribbon vs Red Ribbon Bag

My bag was the red ribbon bag. And Justin got the white ribbon bag (he also got an extra bag for his parents, what a nice son). He thoughtfully texted me the photo above showing everything in his bag.

It's pretty similar. The white ribbon bag has the same number of items: 9 items in the bag, plus 2 pounds of rice and fresh mochi. The bag also has similar items. Some are different flavors/colors. White sponge instead of yellow sponge. Different flavor furikake. Worcestershire sauce instead of tomato-apple sauce.

Pretty fun to compare the difference! I wouldn't say one bag was better than the other, it's just different items ^_^

Fukubukuro Tips

I'm still learning my way around the world of fukubukuro (there are some expert shoppers out there!), but here are a few tips that I hope will be useful:

• Go early. Some places sell out fast (the line for fukubukuro from Aloha bags this year looked bananas). Even if they don't, it's better to go early to guarantee a bag.
• Plan your stores in advance. I have some friends that get multiple fukubukuro each year. Ever store that offers one will usually post about it in advance online.
• Make a day of it! It's fun to get fukubukuro in the morning with friends, and then all go out for lunch, ideally dim sum at Jade Dynasty. Lots of good fukubukuro is sold at Ala Moana so you can just walk to lunch.
• Buy from stores where you'd be ok with any or most of their products. The saddest is when you get a disappointing fukubukuro. But since it's a surprise, you really have no idea what's inside (and sometimes stores just put all the items they can't sell into the bag). I tend to stick with stores where I know I'd be happy with most everything they sell.

Good luck fukubukuro-ing! I will update this post early next year with my latest fukubukuro find ^_^