The largest Gashapon store in North America recently opened in Flushing, welcoming hundreds of customers interested in obtaining the keychains, figures and knick-knacks on hand.
Photo by Alice Moreno
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Fans of Japanese culture – whether they’d be into anime, manga, VTubers or video games – joined together on Saturday, June 6, with over 200 people in line outside of the largest Gashapon store in North America.
Located at 36-45 Main St. in Flushing, the Bandai official shop featured over 700+ Gashapon machines filled with a variety of keychains, figures and knick-knacks. The store is adjacent to the Ebisu Life Store, an Asian lifestyle store.
Photo by Alice Moreno
Gashapon is a type of Japanese vending machine that dispenses items, most notably, small collectible toys. The toys given are at random, chosen from a small selection of items provided. The name derives from an onomatopoeia: “gacha” refers to the hand-cranking action, and “pon” is the capsule dropping onto the tray. Guests could buy tokens at $3 per token, using either cash or card.
Photo by Alice Moreno
“We work with Shibuya Dreams and also the Ebisu store,” said Makoto Araki, the CEO of Shibuya Dreams, LLC and Bandai representative. “We work together to make the Gashapon store in New York.”
Photo by Alice Moreno
At the store, guests could buy capsules such as a Super Mario keychain, Gundam figures to build, Sanrio-related charms, Minecraft keyboard charms, One Piece figurines and more.
Photo by Alice Moreno
Flushing has a high volume of Asian residents, making up 54% of the neighborhood’s population. Araki hopes that Gashapon will be well-received by the community, as Gashapon is mostly seen in Asian countries.
Photo by Alice Moreno
“I’m very happy,” Araki said. “So many people reacted so nicely [to the establishment].”
Photo by Alice Moreno