Hi there, I'm Amy from Cakes with Faces
Gachapon are the capsule toys you get from little vending machines in Japan
They usually come in series of about 6 or 8 figures
The beauty is, you don't know which one you're going to get
They're only about 200 or 300 yen
Today I've got a round-up for you
Of cute, funny & strange gachapon from Japan
They're always coming out with new series
And it never ceases to amaze me
With what they come up with
Lots of gachapon are related to anime
Like figures, keychains or button badges
But I think the most interesting ones
Are the crazy & random series
That make you think:
"Why on earth did they even make that?!"
Like this one
Toilets that are also stag beetles
I guess they make them so you think: That's so strange, I've got to have it
And it definitely works!
If you want to go gachapon hunting when you're in Japan
You can find them in all the major city centre areas
Especially in and around arcades
Or game centres
So you can find lots in Akihabara
Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Shibuya
And lots of other places too
Often they'll be up front, just on the street
Or sometimes you'll go into a shop
And there'll be a whole bank of them
Like in Yodobashi Camera
There's also loads in Akihabara Station
Or in Character Street in Tokyo Station
Anywhere you find lots of cute shops or anime stuff
There'll definitely be gachapon
And they're introducing them at the airport
As a way to use up your spare coins
Which I think is a great idea
What better use for your last few yen
Than a mini loaf of bread
I actually found these in Sapporo
And of course, I had to get one
I've done a few of these gachapon round-up videos so far
And they're actually some of my favourite videos to make
Because there's just so many great gachapon
That I want to share with you
There's just too many for one video
So there'll probably be another one coming up at some point
So let's get started
On to the gachapon
Tell me in the comments which you'd choose
If you could only pick one
Extension cable winders
These do actually have a practical use
You can wind up your phone charging cable
And they come in different colours
Miniature coin lockers
These look just like the lockers you find in Japan
Often around stations so you can store stuff in them
So if you buy too many gachapon
You can put them all in a locker
The beauty of these is,
If you get too many duplicates
You can just stack them up
And make a whole bank of lockers
Next: Portaloos
Now sometimes these miniature items
Are so you can make scenes with your anime figures
And I'm sure your figures would appreciate it
If you provide washroom facilities
There's western toilets
And Japanese style squat toilets
And also for your anime figures
I guess
Miniature tape barriers
So you can form an orderly queue
Maybe a queue for the portaloos?
These may look like senbei rice crackers
But on the back they have a little zip
They're actually coin purses
How practical
Or how about these pouches
That look like icons on your PC
You can literally put your stuff in the recycling bin
Or purses shaped like toadstools and mushrooms
I'm not sure about these ones
Some of them look a bit - weird
Next: pigeon cars
It says they're pull-back cars
So I guess they're that type of toy car
That you pull back & then they zoom forwards on their own
There's a variety of pigeon types ot choose from
Different species
And then you've got this one
That's a police car
Police pigeon
And I'm not sure what's going on with this one
That's painted plain gold
Hermit crabs
Some of them are living inside shells
LIke normal hermit crabs
But these guys have decided to move house
Into an old tin can
Traffic ones
And an actual house
I don't know if they're related
But there's also this series
Where hermit crabs have decided to branch out
And move into different types of properties
There's different types of houses
And on the leaflet you even get a little floor plan
There's a snow crab in an igloo
And even one in a Japanese castle
Very grand
That's definitely a step up
From an old tin can
Traffic lights
TThat actually light up & flash
I don't know why but I kind of want these ones
There's definitely something appealing about gashapon that light up
So you might want these ones as well
Mini lasers that you can wear on your fingers
This one even changes colour
That would definitely be the one you'd try & get
This next gashapon would make an excellent souvenir of your trip to Japan
They're mini tori gates
Like you get at a Japanese shrine
Aren't they cute?!
You can collect loads of them
And make your own mini version of Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto
Or how about this as a souvenir
We all know Japanese toilets are very high tech
With all the different buttons
So you could commemorate your time in Japan
And the time you spent on the toilet in Japan
With toilet button gachapon
They're also water guns
That squirt water
Sometimes I hear from people who go to Japan on their honeymoon
But if you're going for a different sort of romantic trip
And you're planning to propose
To your significant other
How about getting engaged
With a sushi ring?
There's salmon, salmon roe
For vegetarians there's seaweed
And a pickled plum
Which looks kind of weird
How could they say no?!
And they come in an onigiri rice ball shaped ring box
I kind of want that too
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Now back to the gachapon
What is with this cat?!
He's actually an extending cat
Both ends are pencil toppers
So you can make... a really long cat?!
That's about as much sense as that one makes
The next one's kind of practical
Maybe
Mini sponge scourers
Shaped liked cats
To make the washing up more kawaii
Finally on the cat theme
We've got cats at the gym
On the balancing bar
Some of them are more motivated than others
This one's just taking a nap
Next: muscly animals
You wouldn't want to cross this squirrel in the park
This made no sense to me
But luckily I found a blog post that explained the whole thing
It started with a photo of a shiba inu
That's chasing it's tail
In the photo it looks like he has a really strong, muscular arm
They've taken this idea
And run with it
And made it into a whole concept
To include a curled up fox that looks like he has his arms crossed
And I don't know where the shark came from
But you wouldn't want to mess with it
This next one's quite a bizarre concept as well
Animals supporting Japan
Now Japan's all about regional things
I think what's going on here
Is animals that have something to do with particular areas or regions
They're supporting the region
In this case, they're literally holding up pieces of land
So we've got bears for Hokkaido
There's foxes like you get at an inari shrine
For the area with Kyoto
And for Okinawa
There's shisa, which are sort of lion / dragons
Which are just liek the statues people have on their rooftops
To ward off evil spirits
I hope you enjoyed this look into the world of gachapon
I just can't believe that some of these exist
Tell me in the comments which were your favourites
And I'll be back next week
With more Japan travel videos
I'll see you on Thursday