Japan Blog 4 - GashaPon Fun!!

January 27, 2018

Japan Blog 4 - GashaPon Fun!!

Greetings Kitten Feathers <3

Hello and welcome back to my blog! And if you a new kitten visiting for the first time, thank you for choosing to stop by and read about my hobbies, life and adventures!

Today we are going on a small kawaii loot run and venturing into my first experience exploring the fun-filled world of GashaPon!

While we were busy adventuring around Japan, I was on the lookout for GashaPon machines hoping to find some filled with trinkets and souvenirs that I wanted within them… And I did find many! Of course, I ended up with a not-so-small haul of Sailor Moon goodies! I did get a couple of other bits, but just to be totally honest it was mainly Sailor Moon! XD. The fun of trying out the GashaPon was mostly around the mystery and the random chance of what I could end up getting.

To understand why this is fun, we must go over what they are.

Well Kittens, let’s start with the basics; GashaPon are coin-operated blind-box style toy and novelty vending machines. For reference, they are kind of like the coin-operated toy vending machines seen outside of stores or in shopping centres here at home; you know the ones that sell the cheap toys and bouncy balls. But in Japan these ones are totally different!

There are GashaPon machines almost everywhere (even some around temples); they are almost as common as vending machines around Japan. Most machines are themed around popular anime, movies, games or manga, but there are so many varieties that I just can’t even begin to describe them all. To my absolute surprise, the capsules came with some really good quality items that were in many cases officially licenced! Well, at least this was the case for me! :D

There is a magic that is all to their own to GashaPon. Each machine will have a picture of what you have the chance of getting from it on the front. From there, you put in the required yen and then turn the knob and your capsule is dispensed.

Once your capsule is out, you get the magical moment of opening your goodies and finding out what is inside! I really loved giving these a try; they are a cheap and fun way to collect little keepsakes on your journey around Japan!

How do they work? Well there are 8 easy steps!

1- Select the machine you want to try.

2- Put in the amount of yen required.

3- Turn the knob.

4- Take your capsule.

5- Open you capsule.

6- Be amazed at what you got.

7- Return your capsule if there is a basket.

8- Repeat! XD

The machines I tried normally cost me between ¥200 - ¥500, but there are machines that are as little as ¥100 and up to as much as ¥1,000. It’s up to you how much you send on these; I would have loved to have gotten more but you can only spend what you have so definitely budget in some funds for these specifically if you want to try a few as you can spend an awful lot really quick! Another thing to keep note of is that most groups of machines will have baskets or bin to return the capsules in. Please remember to do this if you can to keep good manners!

Okay, moving on. What you can expect in your GashaPon?

1- Capsule