And that is Gatchapon. You know those machines you put a coin into, twist the handle and out comes a ball with a toy? Well, the turning sound, in Japanese at least, sounds a bit like "Gatcha gatcha gatcha", and when the ball falls down, it sounds very much like "pon". Hence the name.
Now, Gatchapon in Japan are not just rusting machines outside the public swimming pool. No, they are mainstream, and very popular. And one of the best places to go for Gatchapon is Yodobashi Camera.
Basically, all the big names are represented - Mameshiba, Hello Kitty, Relakuma, Mario, Snoopy, Pokemon, Ultraman, etc.
However, there are many, many, many more.
Here you can get a plastic replica burger, by Mos Burger (like Burger King but without the smell and litter on the floor), in case you want to remind yourself of your favourite convenience food product when reaching for your keys. $2.
This was also somewhat curious - Bouncy Body Mascot.
Or how about a ...
...poo light! Available in six different varieties.
or a miaowing paw? Also available in dog version.
or a handy anatomy lesson?
Now, when you put the money in and turn the wheel, it does indeed go gatcha gatcha gatcha, and there is a helpful safety-pacman to show you how to retrieve your Gatchapon without injury.
I ended up going for :
A keyring which looks like a slide with a bacterium on it. I didn't really care for the bacterium so much, but the machine did say "Tales of Agriculture", which I felt was a strong use of Jinglish. I also got a Mario one (very difficult to decide between the soft version
- which you can use as a screen-wipe, and the hard version, which is also a handy fridge magnet):
And here's the thing - I really wanted to get the bullet guy, or perhaps the cloud, but the machine gave me the yellow mushroom.
And this reminds me of the market - you can't eliminate randomness.
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you can’t tell the proportion of yellow mushrooms relative to bullet man, so perhaps the point is that markets are unpredictable and not random. Or perhaps an unhelpful mix of partial randomness and unknown proportions.
ReplyDeleteG
You can’t eliminate randomness?
ReplyDeleteSurely you can if you are a super sophisticated hedge fund – one that charges a 5% management fee, takes 30% of any upside, and has a really swish office in Berkeley Square.