Gashapon® EXPO 2024 ~Let’s Look at the Future of Gashapon!~ Will be Held in Sunshine City, Ikebukuro, Between 3/27 and 3/31!

One of the biggest events in Gashapon history, Gashapon® EXPO 2024 ~Let’s Look at the Future of Gashapon!~ will be held at Ikebukuro Sunshine City in Tokyo from Wednesday, March 27, to Sunday, March 31. Entry is free, and presale reservations are currently open.

This event was designed with the concept of “space.” Along with historical vending machines and various merchandise that have been available throughout Gashapon’s 47 years of history, there will also be a ton of new merchandise planned to go on sale in 2024. Some of these include merchandise of super popular characters and anime such as Mobile Suit Gundam MOBILE SUIT ENSEMBLE as well as Bandai original characters. There will also be a never-before-seen, shocking Future Gashapon Vending Machine. This will be an exciting, enjoyable event that will show off Gashapon’s past, present, and even its future in a way that will make you feel like you’re exploring space.

There will also be hands-on content like a Feeling Gashapon that you turn with your mind, a Travel Gashapon that will make you feel like a globetrotter, and workshops that will make kids feel like Gashapon creators. Don’t miss them!

There will also be displays of special collaboration items, event presales, limited edition merchandise for sale, and lots of other content that you’ll only be able to experience here. Make sure to check it out!

[Event Dates]
Wednesday, March 27 - Sunday, March 31, 2024 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM (final entry at 6:30 PM)

*Entry starts at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, March 27.
*Final entry on Sunday, March 31, is 5:30 PM.
*You can make same-day reservations for entry. (Depending on how crowded it is, this service may not be applicable.)

[Venue]
Ikebukuro Sunshine City Bunka Kaikan Hall 2F Exhibition Hall D
(Higashi-Ikebukuro 3-1-4, Toshima-ku, Tokyo)

[Entry Fee]
Free

[Regarding Reservations]
・Reservations are first-come-first-served. Please choose your desired entry time.
・You can make same-day reservations for entry. (Depending on how crowded it is, this service may not be applicable.)
・Make sure to read the terms of service before making your reservation.
・Reservations for the following hands-on content are required.
　 - Travel Gashapon
　 - Feeling Gashapon
　 - Workshops
*The hands-on content is first-come-first-served and requires prior reservations. Same-day entries will not be permitted.

⇒Reservations for entry and hands-on content can be made here!

■Gashapon of the Future: Feeling Gashapon
What you get is up to you! You’ll get the perfect item for how you currently feel!
The Feeling Gashapon is a never-before-seen Gashapon that you turn with your mind. From the 12 emotions that humans have like joy, nervousness, and excitement, subjects wearing the headset (measuring instrument) will have their brainwaves scanned in real-time and analyzed before receiving the Gashapon that matches those feelings perfectly.
The subject will face the brain-shaped case, regulate their breathing while abiding by commands, and turn the handle in front of them to begin the measuring. The measurements will take roughly 30 seconds. The subject will once again turn the handle and a capsule holding the Gashapon that is perfect for their feelings will appear. Please try out this futuristic Gashapon that will delve into your psyche.

[Summary]
・Free
・For children elementary-school-aged and older
・Takes roughly 5 minutes
・1 person at a time
・Participants will wear a simple measuring device on their head.

■Gashapon of the Future: Travel Gashapon
Is this travel? Or is it a Gashapon? Look forward to where you end up!
The Travel Gashapon is a cube wrapped up in constantly changing images that will make you full of excitement as you wonder what’s happening inside. When you walk inside and turn the handle, you’ll be thrown into a surprising destination that could be a famous tourist spot, the past, the future, or even space! You’ll be surrounded by this incredibly realistic image that will make you feel like you’re traveling through time and space. “Is this a Gashapon? Or am I traveling?” The only people who truly know the answer to that are those who participate in this experience. Look forward to spinning the Gashapon at your destination! Please enjoy this futuristic travel, complete with a Gashapon full of memories as a souvenir!

[Summary]
・Free
・For children elementary-school-aged and older
・Takes roughly 3 minutes
・Up to 4 people at a time
・Please avoid this content if you are sensitive to light.
*You will receive one Gashapon® per attempt.

■Gashapon Creator Workshop for Elementary and Middle Schoolers
Make your own idea into a charm as an experience of how to develop a Gashapon product!
This Gashapon Creator Workshop will introduce the tricks of coming up with new ideas and allow participants to create their own unique Gashapon item. Once you learn the surprising places to find new ideas that no one has ever come up with before, you’ll express that idea with text and illustrations. In the end, you’ll draw your Gashapon idea onto an acrylic plate and take home your very own original charm!

[Summary]
・Free
・For children elementary-and middle-school-aged
・Takes roughly 45 minutes
・Up to 16 people at a time
・Support staff will be there to help, but please be careful not to cause any accidents or injuries.

■An Adventure Stamp Rally will also be held!
Participate in the Adventure Stamp Rally inside the event and get a limited edition item!
*This stamp rally uses the LINE app. Please use your smartphone to participate.
*For more information, please look at the Get a Flat Gashapon leaflet you’ll receive upon entry.
*The stamp rally will finish once all the prizes have been given out.

In commemoration of Gashapon® EXPO 2024, event-only and limited edition items will be sold at the Gashapon Official Shop Ikebukuro, which is inside the Bandai Namco Cross Store Tokyo. Make sure to check it out!

Gashapon Bandai Official Shop Ikebukuro

Sunshine City World Import Mart Bldg. 3F Higashi-Ikebukuro 3-1-3, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Business Hours: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM