Gachapon Machines
Eagle-eyed customers may have noticed the new gachapon machines that showed up recently at our homeware store in downtown Portland, Kokoro. The gacha craze has been slowly making its way out of Japan for the last few years, and we’ve been hit hard. With minimal opportunities to give into the craze outside of Japan, many may be unaware that gachapon culture has been going strong since the 60’s.
The now ¥40 billion industry in Japan started with one industrious Americana enthusiast - Ryuzo Shigeta. After hearing about American gumball machines, Shigeta quickly ordered one straight from the States… but when it arrived, Shigeta was astounded at the quality of the machine. He set to work reinventing it to make it smoother and more enjoyable, and in 1965 founded Penny Shokai, the country’s first gachapon company.
This will be a familiar motif for fans of Kiriko Made, where our shelves are lined with examples of Japanese-American fusion. As with our prized pieces of Americana-inspired, Japanese-made clothing, this provides another example of an industry that quickly grew to far larger than it had ever been in its country of origin. It’s estimated that there are over 360,000 gachapon machines in Japan, with new toys released on a monthly basis to fill them.
The gachapon name comes from the sound of the turning of the plastic crank, “gacha” and the drop of the capsule into the tray, “pon”. From this cutesy name to their frequent new toy releases, the industry has found to trouble finding, and keeping, buyers. If you don’t get the option you were hoping for, you’ll be itching to try again, or to keep trying until you get a full set.
In Japan, Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood serves as the epicenter of the contagion, with a hall housing over 500 machines and even stores that sell opened capsules, where customers cram in to pay premiums for discontinued gacha from years past. Gachapon culture has spread through unforeseen facets of daily life, and if you visit shrines or temples in Japan you may spot gachapon machines on the grounds filled with omamori- lucky amulets and charms bless by priests.
It’s hard to explain the thrill of the catch, so come in to Kokoro to try out one of our many adorable, quirky, and absurd options. And new options are cycled in frequently, so don’t forget to come back…
