Yufuin and Capsule Store, Ōita Town Roam – Experience

From my last post, we had just finished our 5.5 hr hike up and down Mt Yufu, and after the hike, although we were absolutely exhausted, we wanted to make the most of the the time we had left, so we decide to visit the town of Yufuin, which is a hot springs town not too far from Mt Yufu (about 10mins drive from the mountain).

The town of Yufuin is incredibly popular with tourists, and by popular, I mean that we walked around and it felt like we were in cleaner version of a town where only Hong Kong and Chinese people lived – unless you enter a store, you wouldn’t really hear Japanese. That said, the town itself is still very picturesque.

Generally, Ms Buddha and I just did a walk around (yes, more walking) and browsed the overall town quite quickly to avoid the crowds, although one store did catch my attention though as it housed something that I just need to spend money on every time I go to Japan – Gashapon – which is pretty much plastic eggs blind boxes of tiny plastic toys.

There are literally hundreds of varieties available in the store which covers 2 levels, each machine has a little poster which lets you know of the potential item that you can get inside.

I roamed around both levels until I found one that was close to the entrance housing something that I’ve only seen for the first time and is a combination of one of my favourite breeds of dogs and one of my favourite foods: Mochi Shiba!

To be honest, the way I normally go for Gashapon toys is that I assess what the chance of getting my favourite is, then add that to what I’d find acceptable and finally compared that against the probability of me getting something I’d rather throw away. In this instance, I wanted either the light or white shiba, and I found all of them acceptable, so it was an easy decision.

It is actually quite funny how excited I can get still whenever I get a Gashapon I wanted, and honestly, I can probably buy these from a store which sells the Gashapon revealed at a slight premium, but the mystery is something that still lures me towards those machines!

And because of this, the “liberated” Shiba now has a new home!