{
  "slug": "gashapon",
  "url": "https://gachawiki.com/wiki/gashapon",
  "type": "term",
  "title": "Gashapon",
  "description": "Japanese capsule-toy vending machines, introduced in 1965 by Penny Shokai and commercialized at scale by Bandai from 1977. The physical origin of the word and concept behind digital gacha.",
  "aliases": [
    "gachapon",
    "capsule toys",
    "gacha-gacha"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "terminology",
    "history"
  ],
  "verification": "verified",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-09",
  "lastVerified": "2026-07-09",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "The elderly man who invented Japan's capsule toys",
      "url": "https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g01212/",
      "publisher": "Nippon.com",
      "accessed": "2026-07-09",
      "note": null
    },
    {
      "title": "About Gashapon",
      "url": "https://us.gashapon.jp/about/",
      "publisher": "Bandai",
      "accessed": "2026-07-09",
      "note": null
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "gacha",
    "gacha-game",
    "history-of-gacha-games"
  ],
  "markdown": "Gashapon are Japanese capsule-toy vending machines: insert coins, turn the crank, and a random toy inside a plastic capsule drops out. The name is onomatopoeia, \"gasha\" for the crank and \"pon\" for the capsule landing. \"Gashapon\" is a registered trademark of Bandai; \"gacha-gacha\" and \"gacha\" are the generic terms, and the last of these became the name of the [digital mechanic](/wiki/gacha). [[2]](#ref-2)\n\nThe machines derive from American bulk-vending machines. Ryuzo Shigeta, founder of Penny Shokai in Tokyo's Taito ward, set up Japan's first capsule-toy machine on February 17, 1965, adding capsules to protect the prizes, and sold turns for 10 yen. [[1]](#ref-1) Bandai entered the market in 1977, selling character-licensed capsules at 100 yen when rivals charged around 20, and built capsule toys into a durable national industry. [[1]](#ref-1) [[2]](#ref-2)\n\nTwo properties of the physical machines carried directly into digital gacha: the fixed price per random draw, and collection-driven demand, since toys shipped in themed sets that invited completion. The set-completion impulse later produced the [kompu gacha](/wiki/kompu-gacha) mechanic, whose 2012 ban is the genre's first major regulatory event.",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
  }
}