For an outsider, the immense popularity of key rings in Japan is perplexing. How many keys do people have? And how can they stuff those huge, cuddly animals in their pockets?
The answer is, of course, they do neither. The key rings are a statement that even salarymen can do, albeit discreetly. And there is one place to find them: The gachapon stands.
Almost anywhere you go in Tokyo, there are capsule bays. Not the capsule hotels, even though they have found a new wave of popularity. But small machines where you insert a couple of hundred yen, turn a dial, and get a capsule with something in it. If you are lucky, it is what you wanted, but the system is usually set up so that there are several versions of the goods coming out. And of course, you never get the one you really wanted, so you have to try again. Just remember to put the actual capsules in the recycle tray, so they can come back filled with new plastic coolness.
It used to be you could only find the gachapon machines in selected locations, usually somewhere secluded, like under the train tracks. The contents were shoddy knock-offs of popular anime, produced without the consent of the makers, and the capsule machines balanced on a fine edge of being profitable, and being replaced with coin lockers.
Before that, of course, the gachapon machines (the word is onomatopoetic, describing the sound the machine makes) were a staple of the mom-and-pop sweets and toy stores you would find on every Showa shopping street, where the kids would go to spend their weekly allowance, or the few yen they had earned working chores. You can even buy your own gachapon machines in the toy stores, either luxury plastic ones or cardboard build-it-yourself kits. What you fill them with is up to you, however.
As the kids grew older, the mom-and-pop candy shops disappeared. And so did the gachapon machines. At least from the shopping streets. They migrated into the department stores and railway stations, hiding behind elevators and under stairs, biding their time next to the toilet entrances. And in the years around 2010, the popularity of the gachapon machines started to grow. The offerings started to change, too. No longer kids’ toys like characters from the ever-popular Anpanman and Doraemon anime, the types of goods that would come in your capsule changed.
In many shopping malls, a slot left open by a closed store will quickly fill up with gachapon machines. Often designated “gachapon parks” or “gachapon stores” by the malls, they tend to be very popular as shoppers seek out the latest offerings. And it is a cheap way for parents to keep their kids distracted. At least for a few minutes.
There is no one single reason for their sudden popularity, except that they provide 3D renderings of anime and manga characters, with a key chain attached. Bandai Namco, the company that operates most of them, has been successful in picking up social media memes, obscure web comics, and anime, and turning them into character renderings for the gachapon machines. Yes, that Bandai, which used to be a games company but now operates not only gachapon machines around Japan, but also indoor exercise parks and wholesome game centers. The Hanayashiki amusement park in Asakusa, the oldest of its kind in Japan.
But while anime characters are a staple of the gachapon machines, they are not the only thing on offer. The anime characters nowadays are in a minority, yielding to many other specialized characters and objects, often with fierce followings. Sometimes, the contents of the capsules are designer goods; other times, they are novelties. In train stations (outside Tokyo), you can find vending machines offering local specialities in the shape of plastic models, both representing the local food and other aspects of the location.
Gachapon have taken a place in the marketing of TV series and animations, just to give them a physical presence, however small. Popular Western movies, like Jurassic Park and the Star Wars franchises, have also been squeezed into the gachapon capsules. Buy them if you find them, because timing is everything, and the contents of the gachapon machines are rotated frequently.
But it is not only movie spin-offs or popular idol characters that populate the capsules. Mini plastic renderings of modern design have turned surprisingly popular, and not just near the Tokyo art museums. Classic designer furniture that fits in a blue or red capsule has become a genre in its own right, accompanied by other design objects like textiles. Even the designer companies have realized that it makes sense for their goods to be offered in scaled-down models in the gachapon machines.
Most probably, it is the sheer variety of the gachapon designs that has made them successful. While it used to be that you could only find a few simple plastic dolls in the age when the machines molded away in the forgotten corners of the shopping malls, now you have everything from vintage trains to Korean boy bands. Children’s anime, like the Sumikkogurashi series, and all the Sanrio characters — starting with Hello Kitty and Cinnamon Roll, and working downwards from there — are frequent offerings. Trains, of course, are a hit at stations, along with any paraphernalia related to train drivers and the trains themselves.
The only thing more popular than trains is possibly the little dolls representing Japanese girl bands, like AKB 48, Nizu, and Fruits Zipper, although the Korean girls band gachapon dolls are giving them a hard run for the 200 yen of the buyers.
There are even gachapon collectors, and of course, the operators are clever enough to create themed and special gachapon machines, with fans discussing where to go on social media and traveling all over Tokyo to find their favorite gachapon offerings.
For tourists, gachapon machines provide a cheap and effective way of getting souvenirs that do not break the bank. While you can not eat the offerings, you are likely to find offerings that look like almost anything you can eat. And some which you would not eat, even if you could. Ironic characters like Gudetama (an egg) and a piece of toast with legs are tremendously popular, ending up strapped to school or gym bags to discreetly show that it is my bag, and not yours.
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