Wagaya no Fuku-bukuro;
Our Lucky-bags Experience

50年以上前のことですが、私の子供の頃は全ての店がお正月三が日はお休みでした。もちろん24時間365日開いているコンビニなんて洒落たものはない時代で、営業しているのは一部の駅の売店ぐらいでした。現在ではその頃と時代が様変わりして、お正月から営業している飲食店も多々ありますし、ほとんどのデパートや大型店舗では元旦か2日より初売りが始まり、福袋を求める人々で活気に溢れています。一年中でデパートの売り上げが最も多いのは初売りの日だということに驚きます。

When I was a child, more than 50 years ago, all the shops were closed from January 1st to the 3rd. Of course, in those days, there was not a useful place such as a convenience store open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and only some station stalls were open on New Year’s Day. The times have changed and now many restaurants open even on New Year’s Day and most department stores and malls, full of excited people with fuku-bukuro (lucky bags), open for the first sale of the New Year on January 1st or the 2nd. To my surprise, the department stores have the highest turnover on the first day of the year.

皆さんは福袋を購入したことがありますか。リスクを冒すのはお嫌ですか。それともスリルを味わいたいですか。現代の福袋は顧客が本当に欲しい高品質な品をお手頃価格で提供しなければ満足してもらえないそうです。 しかし私は熱心な福袋ファンというわけではなく、私にとっての福袋は軽い運試しといった感じで、わくわくしつつもあまり期待しないで買うものです。ちょうど宝くじのようなものです。

Have you ever bought a fuku-bukuro? Don’t you want to take a chance? Or do you want to get a thrill?　Nowadays, customers are satisfied not only with low prices but also with high quality items which they really need. However, I am not an enthusiastic fuku-bukuro shopper. I just enjoy the thrill that there’s no guarantee of what will be inside my fuku-bukukro, and do not expect too much, so it’s just something like a lottery.

息子は中高生の頃、毎年お年玉でペットショップの福袋を我が家の愛犬達に買っていました。犬用の洋服、おもちゃ、おやつがいっぱい入ったお得感満載のものでした。自分達では決して選ばないような派手な洋服や、同じ洋服が2枚入っていることもありましたが、それでもなお愛犬のために福袋をわくわくしながら購入しました。その頃の洋服やおもちゃは今でも使っています。すっかり大人になった息子は今でもお正月に愛犬に福袋を買ってやることがあります。　2018年の福袋は中身の見える透明な袋に、健康に留意した犬用のおやつが入っていました。

When my son was a high school student, he spent his o-toshidama (a New Year’s monetary gift) on the fuku-bukuro at pet shops for our beloved dogs every year. Those fuku-bukuro were full of outfits, toys and treats for dogs, which were far in excess of the prices he paid for them. Some of those outfits were too loud, which we would never buy by ourselves, and some of them were the same outfits, but we were excited to buy the fuku-bukuro for our dogs all the same. Our dogs still wear the outfits and play with the toys which he bought for them. He has already grown up, and even now sometimes buys the fuku-bukuro for our dogs. In 2018, he bought the fuku-bukuro which contained dog’s treats in transparent bags.

日本のことわざに「のこりものには福がある」という諺があります。１月中旬にスーパーマーケットで、犬の福袋の売れ残りを見つけました。透明な袋に入った数種の犬用のお菓子におもちゃ付きでした。ほとんどが我が家の3匹の愛犬のお気に入りの国産のおやつだったので、遅めのお年玉代わりにお得な価格で3袋購入しました。愛犬はそれらを大興奮で喜んでいました。

As the proverb says, “There is unexpected good in what others have left behind.” In the middle of January, I found the fuku-bukuro for dogs left unsold at the supermarket. Various kinds of dog treats were in transparent bags with toys. As most of them were my three dogs’ favorite treats made in Japan, I bought the three bags at a very low price as o-toshidama (a New Year’s gift). My dogs were very excited with the treats and started playing with the toys as soon as they saw them.

 

(「福袋」へ戻ります)
(Back to “Lucky Bags”)

 

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