Horse-Themed Lucky Bags to Hit Japan’s 2026 New Year Sale

Tokyo, Nov. 10 (Jiji Press)–Major Japanese department stores will sell “fukubukuro” lucky bags for their New Year’s sale next year that offer a wide variety of experiences and items themed on horses as 2026 is the Year of the Horse in the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle. Next year’s bags include those providing customers an opportunity to interact with horses as consumers are increasingly putting priority on experience value over goods. Tobu Department Store Co. will sell 5,000-yen bags that feature 30-minute horseback riding. Customers will be offered a calendar using photos of their riding horses. Takashimaya Co. will sell 20,260-yen bags through a lottery that allow customers to experience as if they are a horse owner throughout the year. Customers can choose their favorite from horses that are about to make their race debut, tour a ranch in Hokkaido, northern Japan, and watch horse races from owner’s seats. Since “uma” means horses in Japanese, stores will also sell bags containing “umai” (delicious) food or “umakuiku” (good luck) products. Using vending machines for capsule toys, Matsuya Co.’s store in Tokyo’s Ginza district will sell random lucky bags where customers can win 100 pieces of sushi, king crabs, 30 kilograms of the Yumepirika brand of unpolished rice harvested in Hokkaido, or other items for 8,000 yen. Sogo & Seibu Co. will offer bags in which customers can enjoy comparing various taste of “basashi” horse-meat sashimi. Tobu Department Store’s Ikebukuro main store in Tokyo will sell bags that include a golden horse figurine for 1.2 million yen. Takashimaya plans to offer a lucky bag featuring a pure gold figure of the main character from the popular Japanese soccer comic series “Captain Tsubasa,” as well as a pure gold soccer ball, for 120 million yen. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]