In Japan, when you buy something at your local shops in June and December,you may get tickets for Fukubiki, a lottery to win a fortune. This lottery is a symbol of thanks from the shops to the customers and also tactics for sales promotion. To explain the Fukubiki system, I'll give you an exemple; in my local shops, I get a ticket for every 200 yen I spend. So when I buy something worth 620 yen, I get three tickets. When you have gathered ten tickets, you get one lottery ticket. The lottery machine is a revolving hexagonal box filled with many small coloured bolls. When you spin the box, a coloured ball falls from a small hole in the box. Ordinarily, red balls are the last prize and you get a gift voucher worth 10 yen that can be used in your local shops. The first prize is a gift voucher worth ten thousand yen. Prizes are a little different in each shopping district. For example, in one shopping center in Ogikubo, you get a ticket for every 500 yen you spend, and the last prize is a small pucket of tissues, the first prize is a trip to a hot spring.

Many Japanese people don't expect to win the first prize, but Fukubiki is an enjoyable and a typical sight during June and December. It is most exciting for small children as they love to turn the hexagonal box. They ask their parents to buy many things so they can get many tickets. When I was a child, I loved doing the lottery and my brothers and I fought over who spin the box. Many Japanese people have simular memories, so Fukubiki reminds us of our childhood.

If you are visiting Japan in the Fukubiki season, please try it. I hope that you win the first prize.