When looking at what I was consuming here in Japan, the gashapon, or gacha, is a strange decision I settled on. This is because I have not been buying a lot of gachas (compared to my friends anyway), but I believe this is not the only thing involved in the culture of gachas.
First off, gashapons are small dispensers that give out a small item depending on the gacha you use. These items range from small magnets that cost around a 100 yen to a modest size figure that can cost around around 500 yen. These little machines can be found almost anywhere and can be found in groups. While you find a lot of these in groups of around six, there are some places that can contain rows and rows of these dispensers.
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| Example of a typical gacha station. |
America also has gacha, but on a smaller scale. Supermarkets may have a small candy or bouncy ball dispenser near the entrance that costs 25 cents, but Japanese gacha give off a different feel. The items you get from gacha differs depending on the machine; however, most of the gachas are anime related. By appealing to fandoms, Japanese gashapon gain more incentive to buy than a 25 cent bouncy ball. Not only this, but the items you receive are quality products you could buy at comic stores like keychains and pins.
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| One of the items I was able to get. |
But like I said, I have not purchased from a lot of gacha, but I still feel like I am a consumer unlike some customers I have watched which come to machines with a cup of 100 yen hellbent on getting the one they want. For me, like the gambling high of getting the right keychain, there is also a high in finding the right machine to use. Since gashapon cover many properties, there is always new gacha to find, and finally finding the one with the show that you like is a exhilarating feeling. I even biked an hour out of my way to just use the gacha because my friend told me of a gacha I was looking for.
Gacha are more than just a machine on the side of the street. However small they may be, the nicknacks you can get from gashapon can be a way to show off your interests for just a small small price. While the item may be nice, finding the gacha you have been searching for is half the fun. While I do not buy a lot, I am always waiting to find the the one gacha that will make my day.
2 comments:
I'm also a bit of a gachapon fiend myself as well. When the new month rolls around I often check the walls of gacha machines at the mall to see what has changed. Something that was interesting to me is that I don't really see anybody else looking at the gacha machines. Maybe it's the fact that we don't have them in the US that makes them so interesting to us. I have told several of my Japanese friends that we don't have gacha and have been met with surprise. Have you looked into the history of gacha any? Who do you see using gacha most often?
I am surprised to see gashapon still be popular even after video games capitalized on lootboxes. I guess it is the same even with trading card games such as Pokémon where people enjoy the trill of possibly getting something rare and expensive or a certain item that has been long sought after.
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