Booyah! Here’s another round of machines from the land of the rising sun. These machines were in front of a drug store near my apartment. Near the entrance there were always stacks of diapers and paper towels for sale. From the looks of this picture, to the left of the machine, apparently they sold gloves too. These first two machines were quite the disappointment. I was stoked to see the giant machines in all their glory, but found out they were made of plastic. I felt betrayed and disappointed. How dare they make these machines? Plastic! Anyways, this first one features fake World Cup soccer balls. To get around the copyright it reads something like World Soccer Hard Ball.


This next fake gumball machine has phone straps. The text translates, loosely, Docomo air mascot strap. Why air is in there, your guess is as good as mine. Docomo is a cell phone company that uses this mushroom character as their icon. It really isn't that cute compared to other mascots. For instance, another company uses a lil squirrel with headphones as theirs. Come on, now that is just cute. But this?


More damn soccer balls! I’m guessing the machine on the left appears to be the 5th series of these balls. Where the machine on the right is series 3. I think these are two different manufacturers of balls because the Series 3 text reads World Soccer Super Ball. When I was teaching, I never saw kids with these balls. I just can’t imagine them being so popular that two different companies would feel the public needed super balls with fake World Cup designs this bad. At least the machines are metal.


Now we got some goods here. Fortune Diamond! Another sweet lil charm for your phone or bag. Now my Japanese ain’t too good so what I have to write about this is all conjecture. Each Fortune Diamond is a different color to bring the owner good luck in different areas. If you have any other ideas, please share them in the comments. The second machine is the return of the Air Sword! Air Sword II! Compared to Air Sword I, I can’t see any visible difference between the two in construction. But there are 3 new colors available. Sweet. George Lucas should be proud.