McDonald’s Japan’s 2023 fukubukuro lucky bag first disappoints then redeems itself

The golden arches misses the mark in some ways but then makes up for it after all.

With 2023 now officially underway, we’ve been running around town on the hunt for some of the best fukubukuro lucky bags Japan has to offer. These lucky bags are filled with miscellaneous items worth more than the price you pay for them, and one of the bags that’s always at the top of our list every year is the one from McDonald’s.

The golden arches likes to team up with other brands to create some specially branded goods for their fukubukuro and this year is no different, with Chums on board for the 2023 celebrations.

▼ Chums is a Japanese apparel brand that specialises in outdoor gear and accessories.

Our reporter Seiji Nakazawa was the lucky one who was able to buy a McDonald’s lucky bag before anyone else, but he felt a little disappointed at the size of the Chums bag he received as part of the bundle.

▼ It was advertised as a “mini shoulder bag”, but Seji felt it was more like a pouch that could hold little more than a smartphone.

On the bright side, the rest of the bag was less disappointing, with a bunch of vouchers that gave him the below items for free:

• Roasted Soy Sauce Style Double Thick Beef Burger
• Bacon Lettuce Burger
• Teriyaki McBurger
• Shrimp Filet-O Burger

Like previous years, the 3,000 yen (US$22.91) price of the lucky bag was covered by the value of these vouchers, which need to be used by 30 June. That means everything else in the bag was like a bunch of free gifts, and for Seiji, there was one gift that had improved tremendously compared to previous years.

▼ The McDonald’s mug.

▼ As you can see, the quality and look of the mug was much improved this year.

Seiji loved the look of this item, and he reckons he’ll be able to make good use of it throughout the year.

As for the other items in the bag, Seiji received a Cleaning Cloth and a Zipper Pouch, bringing the total to four Chums-branded goods, alongside the free vouchers.

So in the end, after the initial disappointment, the McDonald’s lucky bag for 2023 wasn’t such a bad haul after all, especially when compared to the bags we got in 2022 and 2021.

However, we still hold a soft spot in our hearts for the 2018 fukubukuro, which came in a much better bag and even included a calendar and playing cards. Hopefully they’ll have something more like that in store for us next year!

Photos © SoraNews24
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