Decorative envelope shopping

As you probably already know if you've been living in Japan for any period of time, especially in winter, and / or you are following the City-cost posts about New Year, there are many different elements to New Year in Japan than in 'Western' countries. Here's another example for you; decorative envelopes.

At this time of year people living in Japan shop for pochibukuro or otoshidama-bukuro. A "bukuro" (from fukuro) means envelope. "Pochi" means small and "otoshidama", お年玉 or 御年玉, literally means "new years treasure", but it is the word for the  Japanese New Year tradition of giving money to children. For small children, the money is often put in "pochibukuro", small, decorative envelopes with designs often featuring zodiac animals, popular cartoon characters or festive themes.

These fun, paper envelopes are a highlight for kids. There are many different types, and if you are not under time pressure, they can be quite fun to shop for, to see what cute designs you can find. For the longest time these envelopes cost about 100 to 120 yen. But I noticed this year, most of the character "pochibukuro" start at 200 yen - for just one. However, if you need to buy a few, you find packs with 8 envelopes with cute (but non character) designs, that offer better value.