Walk around almost any Japanese city and you'll spot them: banks of machines packed with colorful capsules in station corners, shopping malls, and the entrances of electronics stores. Turn the handle and a capsule tumbles out with a tiny figure or miniature novelty inside. These machines are known as gachapon, or capsule toys, and trying them has become a favorite little ritual of a trip to Japan.
They're cheap, and the thrill of not knowing what you'll get is half the fun. The hobby has boomed, too: Japan's capsule toy market reached roughly ¥196 billion in 2025. Here's what a first-timer needs to know: how much a turn costs, whether you need cash, and where to find the machines.
Most machines still take coins only. Keep a stack of ¥100 coins in your pocket and you can play the moment you spot one.
Gachapon, gacha, capsule toy: what's the difference?
The names pile up, but they all point to roughly the same thing. The general term is capsule toy, though English speakers also use "gachapon" and "gacha."
The catch is that some of these are brand names. "Gashapon" is a registered trademark of Bandai, and "Gacha / GACHA" is a registered trademark of Takara Tomy Arts. In everyday speech people say gachagacha (ガチャガチャ), but each maker has its own official name for the same basic machine.
What one turn costs
Prices vary by product. For Bandai's Gashapon line, a standard capsule runs ¥200–500 per turn, while more elaborate premium series (detailed figures and the like) run ¥600–1,500.
Each machine shows its price in big characters on the front, so check before you turn the handle. Even machines standing side by side can charge different amounts.
Coins or cashless? What you can actually pay with
Payment is where visitors get tripped up most. The short answer: most machines still take coins only, and ¥100 coins are the workhorse. Some accept ¥500 coins, but many won't take bills or IC cards, so keep small change on hand.
Cashless machines are gradually becoming more common. Bandai's Smart Gashapon has accepted transit IC (such as Suica) since 2019, and the Gashapon Station W takes QR-code payments including PayPay, d Barai (d払い), Merpay, au PAY, WeChat Pay, and Alipay.
Even so, these cashless units are still the exception. Credit cards generally aren't accepted at the machines, so plan on ¥100 coins as your default. Larger stores usually have a coin-change machine somewhere on the floor.
How to play
There's nothing complicated about it. Drop in your coins, turn the handle, and a single capsule rolls out of the tray below. One capsule per turn, and the contents are random.
Most series have several variations in the lineup, and which one you get is a surprise. As a rule there are no do-overs or exchanges, so the one-shot gamble is the whole point of gachapon.
You're paying for the turn, not a specific figure: it's pure luck of the draw.
Where to play: Tokyo's big specialty stores
You'll find machines in most shopping spots around town, but if you want the widest selection, head for a dedicated megastore. Note that even the megastores are mostly coin-operated, so come with ¥100 coins in hand. Here are three of Tokyo's best-known gachapon stores.
Gashapon Department Store Ikebukuro (ガシャポンのデパート 池袋総本店)
It's a wall-to-wall temple of capsule toys and one of the largest such stores in the world, with 3,775 machines. When it opened in 2021 it made headlines for taking a run at a Guinness World Record. It's operated by Bandai Namco Amusement.
- Address: Sunshine City, World Import Mart Bldg. 3F, 3-1-3 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
- Hours: 10:00–21:00 (subject to change)
- Access: about 3 min from Higashi-Ikebukuro Station (Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line)
Gashapon Bandai Official Shop @TOKYO STATION
This shop sits in Tokyo Station Ichibangai, just outside the ticket gates on the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station. It's an easy stop when you're passing through or sightseeing nearby, down on basement level B1 in Tokyo Character Street, with 144 machines.
- Address: 1-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (Tokyo Station Ichibangai, B1)
- Hours: 10:00–20:30 (subject to change)
- Access: Tokyo Station Ichibangai, B1 — Yaesu side of Tokyo Station, outside the ticket gates
Akihabara Gachapon Kaikan (秋葉原ガチャポン会館)
This long-established independent shop (not Bandai-run) sits in Akihabara, the city's anime-and-games district. It's a good place to hunt down rarer, more collector-oriented series.
- Address: MN Bldg. 1F, 3-15-5 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
- Hours: weekdays 11:00–20:00 / Sundays & holidays 11:00–19:00 (subject to change)
- Access: 2 min from Suehirocho Station (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line), or 7 min from the Electric Town Exit of JR Akihabara Station
Official site: Akihabara Gachapon Kaikan
Beyond the specialty stores, machines turn up all over: shopping malls, electronics retailers, Don Quijote, station concourses, and anime shops. You can also look up locations nationwide with the store finder on Bandai's Gashapon site.
For more ways to shop on a budget in Japan, see our Japan 100-Yen Shop Guide.
Practical notes for visitors
On taxes: Japan's tax-free shopping kicks in at ¥5,000 or more (before tax) at a single store on a single day. A few hundred yen dropped into a machine won't meet that threshold, and the machines aren't tax-free counters anyway, so capsule toys effectively fall outside the scheme. Just pay the price shown, tax included.
One last idea: both Haneda and Narita airports have Gashapon corners. Spending your leftover coins on a final turn before you fly is a fun little sendoff. Capsules are bulkier than you'd expect, so leave a bit of room in your suitcase for the ride home.
This article was translated from the original Japanese with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team. The Japanese version is authoritative.