The lucky grab bags known as fukubukuro began going on sale and many stores sold out of them in short order.

Normally sold on New Years Day (or the two days after), many department stores now get a jumpstart by beginning their sales on New Years Eve.

Venus Fort in Odaiba began selling their fukubukuro on the 31st.

Many lucky bags are also jumping on the social trends such as Eco (environmentally friendly) by including items related to those trends.  Additionally, merchants are using the lousy economy to market the grab bags as a way to profit by getting more bang for ones yen.