Meaning & use
gachapon
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small plastic capsule containing a surprise toy or collectible, bought from a coin-operated machine that you turn with a handle.
Grammar: Count it as one capsule or one machine: she won three gachapon, or a row of gachapon.
Patterns
- a gachapon of something
- play gachapon
My nephew spent all his coins on gachapon at the station and still did not get the rare figure.
The shop has a whole wall of gachapon, from tiny animals to miniature sushi keychains.
I got a gachapon of a tiny cat sitting in a teacup.
nouncountable
The machine itself, a coin-operated dispenser that releases a random capsule toy when you turn its handle.
Grammar: Often used before another noun: a gachapon machine.
Patterns
- a gachapon machine
There is a gachapon near the ticket gates that sells animal figures.
We found a gachapon in the mall that only took 500-yen coins.
Word forms
| plural | gachapon |
|---|
Common combinations
- gachapon machine
- The gachapon machine rattled as she turned the handle.
- gachapon toy
- Each gachapon toy comes in a plastic ball you twist open.
- collect gachapon
- He likes to collect gachapon of tiny food items.
- rare gachapon
- A rare gachapon figure can sell online for much more than it cost.
- gachapon capsule
- She kept the empty gachapon capsule as a little box for earrings.
Synonyms and how they differ
- capsule toy
- This is the plain English description and works anywhere, while gachapon points specifically to the Japanese style of machine and its collectibles.
- gacha
- This is a shorter form that is also used for random-reward systems in mobile games, so it is broader than gachapon, which means the physical machine and toys.
- vending machine
- This covers any machine selling goods, while a gachapon always gives a random surprise item rather than one you choose.
Word family
- gacha noun
- shorter name for the same kind of machine, or a game system giving random rewards
- gachagacha noun
- another Japanese name for the same type of capsule toy machine
Commonly confused: gachapon or vending machine?
gachapon vs vending machine
A vending machine lets you choose exactly what you buy, while a gachapon gives you a random capsule you cannot see inside.
Practice
What makes a gachapon different from an ordinary vending machine?
Choose one answer.
A gachapon dispenses a random capsule toy, so you do not know which item you will get. The other options describe things a gachapon does not do.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gachapon”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.