THE JAPANESE MANIA FOR GACHA-GACHA SURPRISES

It is absolutely impossible for anyone visiting Japan to resist the temptation to insert a few coins into one of the many Gashapon (ガシャポン) , the typical gadget distributors located in every corner of the country of the Rising Sun.

Also called "gachapon" or "gacha-gacha" , these small machines with electrical or mechanical activation have many spherical plastic containers inside which you can find a surprise . To get one and discover the prize, just insert a few hundred Yen, turn a handle and wait for one of the capsules to drop into the appropriate collector.

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A gacha-gacha series in Fukuoka © @niradj

The same names of the object ("gashapon", "gachapon" or "gacha-gacha"), which indicate both this type of dispenser and the balls contained inside, are onomatopoeic terms and derive from the sound that can be heard every time that the handle of the dispenser is turned, "cacha" , and by the noise that the container makes when it falls for a few moments, "pon" precisely.

The surprises are many, simple yet wonderful, ranging from the most famous characters of video games and manga , to animals, mascots, representations of modern or traditional buildings, foods and drinks, cars, motorbikes, trains, interior furnishings, caricatures, characters from films, or finally even particular objects such as underwear or cat hats .

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Nendo's gacha-gachas, available from TENOHA Milan © Akiyiro Yoshida

Even Nendo - the famous Japanese design studio led by architect Oki Sato and renowned throughout the world - has created its own capsule edition of gachapon , together with Kayodo, a leading brand in the creation of figures and this Japanese subculture: inside a surprise one among many small collectible 3D sketches, essential micro objects dedicated to the centrality of the creative effort .

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A gashapon store in Akihabara, Tokyo © @ubahnverleih

Gashapon can be found everywhere in the world , but it is in Japan that they have had the most success, perhaps due to the love that the Japanese people and Japanese culture have for vending machines (the most famous and well-known are those for snacks and drinks) , for the thrill of surprise, for an innate propensity for collecting and for the immoderate passion towards every kawaii object.

The first hand-cranked vending machines appeared in Japan in the mid-1960s thanks to Ryuzo Shigeta , known as “Gacha-gacha Ojisan”, or “the grandfather of gashapon” . Its vending machine contained sweets and plastic gadgets which often, due to the heat and high temperatures, stuck together, discouraging people from purchasing. Shigeta then had the idea of placing the sweets and the surprise in a container, thus patenting the gachapon in 1965 .

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An area dedicated to gacha machines at Kansai International Airport © @mokjc

A curiosity? In the Gashapon Department Store , located inside the Sunshine City shopping center in Ikebukuro, Tokyo , you can find over 3000 gashapon dispensers ready to entertain you with their surprises: good luck!