Balloon Shapes By Cops » Star Wars

More Star Wars Gachapon

Silentjim — Sun, 16 May 2010 03:12:59 +0000

Went to the cinema in Nishinomiya yesterday to see “The Box” – pretty weird and strangely sexist, what is it with women and pressing buttons?

Anyway while we were there Aki discovered a new Star Wars capsule toy (Gachapon) machine!

Chewbacca Sound Egg

Sound Eggs!

Basically you push the button (buttons again!) and Chewie Roars!
Or as it says on the instruction sheet: “Rrrooaarrgghh!”

I was actually hoping for Han Solo, so I guess I’ll have to try again next time.

Here’s a list of the eggs to collect:
Darth Vader : Hoooo-pah
Han Solo : I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
Death Star Battle : Whoosh! Boom!
Lightsaber Duel : Buzzzzzz. Clash!
Chewbacca : Rrrooaarrgghh!
Yoda : May the Force be with you.

Updated 22/06/10 : Went back tot he cinema last weekend to see IronMan 2 (excellent), and the Star Wars Gachapon machine has gone!! Gutted.

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Star Wars Capsule Toys (Gachapon)

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Post tags: Capsule Toys, Gachapon, Japanese Toys, Star Wars

Ashiya Festival and the Pizza Selling Stormtrooper

Silentjim — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:26:58 +0000

It’s Cherry Blossom Viewing (Hanami) time in Japan at the moment (well to be honest, it’s over now, but it was a couple of weeks ago), and this means sitting under cherry blossoms, drinking sake, wine or whatever and also, the first festivals of the year (for me anyway).

Ashiya Festival 2010

(Strangely this photo is almost identical to the one I took at last years Festival – must change my snapping position for next year)

The other weekend was Ashiya Festival, which I love as:
a) It’s up the road.
b) It has wine, sake, beer and food stalls.
c) It has little old ladies selling junk for charity at ridiculously cheap prices.
d) Live Bluegrass music

Don’t ask me why, but country and bluegrass music is very popular in this city it seems. Last year they had the guy who wrote the “O Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack play.

This year though there was an extra special surprise…

Fancy a pizza?

A pizza selling stormtrooper!
He’s from the Japanese Garrison of the 501st Legion apparently – what do you mean you didn’t know such a thing existed?

Well I couldn’t not get my picture taken with him could I…

Stormtrooper And I

I love the face the guy behind him is pulling – got a bit of yakitori stuck or something?

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Post tags: Ashiya, Matsuri, Star Wars, Stormtrooper

Star Wars Capsule Toys (Gachapon)

Silentjim — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:42:19 +0000

In Japan they have these great capsule toy vending machines called Gashapon or Gachapon, which is an onomatopeia for the sound of the handle turning (Gacha) and then the sound of the capsule falling (Pon). Cute huh?

They have a lot of Onomatopeia’s in Japan, for example PakuPaku which is the sound of a mouth opening and closing (which is why Pacman was called Pacman – Pakuman (アックマン) in Japanese).

Anyway, as usual I digress.

These capsule toys are about ￥100-￥500 a go, and the toys range from badges, toys, stickers, to really cool Star Wars stuff.

Like these which I found the other week…

Darth Vader Gachapon

Unfortunately Aki liked them a lot so they’re on her keyring and not mine at the moment.

Might have to look for some more (they had a cool Yoda one).

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More Star Wars Gachapon

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Post tags: Gachapon, Japanese Toys, Star Wars

Star Wars Lightsaber Chopsticks

Silentjim — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:51:02 +0000

Darth Vader Lightsaber Chopsticks

These Star Wars Lightsaber Chopsticks were released last November in Japan and I got some (the Darth Vader ones) for Christmas!

They also have Luke’s which are blue and tiny little Yoda one’s which are green. The Yoda one’s are perhaps for kids as they are too small for adults to use I think – although you’re probably not supposed to actually use them, just keep them on display.

I however have opened mine and used them a couple of times

They cost about ￥1100 here ($11).

Star Wars Chopsticks

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Post tags: Chopsticks, Lightsaber, Luke Skywalker, Star Wars, Yoda

Bowling In Japan

Silentjim — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 11:20:17 +0000

One thing about the Japanese is that they have small fingers. This can pose a few problems for a gaijin with “normal” (fatter) fingers, when trying to find a bowling ball. In the end I gave up, and just tried to bowl with the ends of my fingers and the top of my thumb for grip.
Not that I`m any good at bowling anyway, but this hampered my ability a little bit more (only managing to get over 100 on the last of three games – thanks to 2 strikes with my last 2 balls!).

Great fun, and then followed up with an hour of pool, and a go on a UFO machine (the grabbing things you find at seaside resorts). The difference between the Japanese and English versions is that the Japanese don`t mind if you win, so don`t glue all the toys together to make it impossible to do. In fact, the one I had a go on, was piled high with Star Wars bottle top caps, piled so high in fact that a few of them were teetering over the edge of the hole, only kept at bay by luck, and the weight of others behind.

Me being the wily sort, decided that instead of trying to pick them up, I`d just use the grabber to bang them down the hole, which I did, and now am the proud owner of Yoda, Anakin, and 2 droids. yay.

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Post tags: Bowling, Star Wars