Maruhiro's Long-Term Capsule 'Pop Up'

Last summer, Maruhiro Kawagoe had a very popular "Chisaina Omocha no Kuni" ("Little Toy Land") 小さなおもちゃの国 pop up shop during the summer holidays. It was so popular that it never popped down! It is still there more than a year later. What they do is close it every couple of months and then have, what Japan calls, a "Renewal Open". The latest "Renewal Open" started on July 1st. 

"Chisaina Omocha no Kuni" is a traveling capsule-toy pop up that partners with department stores, offering a curated selection of 'gacha' capsule toys. What makes it special, and so popular, is that the capsules are not in machines. Instead, they are laid out in baskets so, you can pick them up and (in theory) see what is inside. For collectors, it's a treasure trove. However, I noticed some ranges hide the contents well so it's still down to the luck of the draw. 

They advertise the prices as starting from 100 yen, which is really cheap for a capsule toy. However, we could only find three ranges at that price. But my eldest daughter had visited early in July and there were a lot more 100 yen capsules on offer. A lot of their capsule ranges are limited stock, so once they sell the items, they aren't restocked. She was savvy to visit early on.

For the most part, the prices were the same as gacha machines, with a couple of bargains here and there. But it was nice to be able to, in most cases, see what was in each capsule in a particular range and choose the one you wanted. My daughters loved it and are already saying they want to visit it again.

The shop is located in the annex across the road from the main Maruhiro building on the 2nd floor - in the space that used to house Afternoon Tea. The end date of the 'pop up' is not available. Budget for 400 yen per capsule. If you spend over 2,000 yen, Maruhiro will validate your parking ticket for two free hours.