Instant ramen maker shows that even hamsters will fall in love with Cup Noodle, if given the chance.
Pretty much everyone loves Cup Noodle, from hungry kids to busy college students to adults who don’t want to go through the hassle of cooking after a long day at the office. As a matter of fact, it turns out that the instant ramen brand’s appeal transcends humanity, as a new video shows the massive untapped potential of a new Cup Noodle fanbase: hamsters!
Now, we should be clear that the Cup No
Instant ramen maker shows that even hamsters will fall in love with Cup Noodle, if given the chance.
Pretty much everyone loves Cup Noodle, from hungry kids to busy college students to adults who don’t want to go through the hassle of cooking after a long day at the office. As a matter of fact, it turns out that the instant ramen brand’s appeal transcends humanity, as a new video shows the massive untapped potential of a new Cup Noodle fanbase: hamsters!
Now, we should be clear that the Cup Noodle manufacturer is not recommending letting your pet hamster eat instant ramen, as the nutritional needs of humans and hamsters are entirely different. Instead, they’ve created a Cup Noodle hamster wheel.
“We’ve made a Cup Noodle that hamsters love running in,” says the post from Nissin’s official Twitter account, along with an adorable video of a hamster taking it for a spin. However, look closely and you’ll see that isn’t a repurposed ramen container. To make the running motion as natural as possible, the apparatus is a straight cylinder, unlike Cup Noodle packages that widen as you move from the base to the brim. The interior of the cylinder also has little notches to give the hamster better traction as it runs.
The exterior design, though, is an exact match to the classic, iconic Cup Noodle packaging, and with the video representing a meeting point of Japan’s love of instant ramen and its love of cute animals, the online reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and envious.
“I want to let my pet ham-chan run on this too!” “This…this would be a huge seller!” “Please offer these for sale. I’ll do anything for one.” “Add a noodle pattern to the inside, and it’ll be perfect.” “I want to hook this up to a generator and use the power to boil water to cook my Cup Noodle with.”
As we’ve seen before, Nissin likes to let its design team share photos of its crazy and/or creative prototypes, and sometimes what starts out as just quirky fun actually does end up making it to market if the response is strong enough. That’s what happened with the Cup Noodle Measuring Cup and Cup Noodle Squid Fork, and considering that Japan is a country that has Final Fantasy scratching pads for cats and Dragon Quest dog houses, it seems like there’s probably a market for Cup Noodle hamster wheels too.
We find out just how devilish and angelic these 100-yen surprises are.
Our reporter Natsuno Futon was strolling the streets of Oyama City in Tochigi Prefecture the other day when she came across an unusual vending machine. The first thing that caught her eye was the huge “100 yen” (US$0.63) sign on the front, but then, as she stepped closer, she became even more intrigued.
There, in the window display, were the words “いろんなおもちゃ” (“various toys“), and beneath them: “Contains items worth between
We find out just how devilish and angelic these 100-yen surprises are.
Our reporter Natsuno Futon was strolling the streets of OyamaCity in Tochigi Prefecture the other day when she came across an unusual vending machine. The first thing that caught her eye was the huge “100 yen” (US$0.63) sign on the front, but then, as she stepped closer, she became even more intrigued.
There, in the window display, were the words “いろんなおもちゃ” (“various toys“), and beneath them: “Contains items worth between 20 and 300 yen“.
As her eyes moved down to scan the second row, she read the words: “平和と平等” (“Peace and Equality”) and then, on the third row, “天使と悪魔” (“Angels and Demons”).
Natsuno had never encountered a vending machine stocked with Peace and Equality and Angels and Demons before, and neither had her children who were with her on this outing. Needless to say, her children were excited to find out what these mystery items were, so Natsuno found herself reaching into her pocket for some 100-yen coins.
With a machine like this, part of the fun is randomly selecting a button to press, and her daughter started by pushing one of the buttons on the top row, which were marked “おもちゃ” (“toys“).
▼ A long cylinder immediately popped out into the tray at the bottom of the machine, and this is what came out of it.
A toy car and five toy coins. From Natsuno’s point-of-view, this was a bit of a disappointment, particularly as her daughter doesn’t have any interest in toy cars or fake coins.
▼ Hoping for something better, her daughter popped a real coin into the machine and pressed a button on the “Peace and Equality“row.
The buttons on the second and third rows read “お菓子” (“sweets“), so they knew this would be something edible. What that would be, however, remained a mystery until they popped the lid on the canister they received.
▼ Oh! That looks like Mochitaro.
Mochitaro is a classic Japanese “dagashi” (cheap snack) consisting of crunchy rice cracker chunks. It wasn’t the only thing in the canister, as it also contained some mango jelly and a small bag of Haribo gummy candies.
For 100 yen (US$0.63), this was a decent deal, and it gave Natsuno and her daughter hope that they might be able to encounter an angel on their next try.
▼ Time to press a button on the “Angels and Demons” row.
What came out, however, appeared to be neither an angel nor a demon, as the canister was ambiguous.
Even after looking inside, they weren’t sure whether they’d been visited by a demon or an angel, as they received six cheap candies that might’ve been worth around 100 yen. The dark hues on some of the packs, including the iconic Black Thunder chocolate, hinted at a devilish selection, but on the other hand, it was a pretty good deal.
▼ Curious to give it another try, Natsuno’s daughter pressed another button…
▼ …and out popped a canister with the word “Devil” printed on it in big red characters.
▼ What was inside?
▼ One puffed wheat snack.
This was definitely devilish – paying 100 yen to receive just one cheap puffed rice snack was a merciless move, and now they were more determined than ever to meet an angel.
▼ One more try.
▼ Success!
The progression from ambiguous canister through to devil and then angel was such a great progression that Natsuno felt it was almost as if there was someone inside the machine, reading the atmosphere and doling out excitement in increasing levels.
▼ The word “アタリ!” (“win!“) was also printed on the canister, adding to the sense of joy.
▼ So…let’s see what the angel delivered.
This was definitely a win, as it was the best result so far, with Natsuno estimating the total value to be more than 100 yen. Emboldened by this result, Natsuno and her daughter went for another try on the toy line, which seemed to present a better deal than the sweet options.
▼ If there’s a chance of winning something worth up to 300 yen, this is where they might get lucky.
▼ They were rewarded with two fun erasers from respected company Iwako, and a dinosaur egg.
Natsuno figured this bundle was worth over 200 yen. It wasn’t bad, but to be honest, she wouldn’t say it was worth 300 yen.
▼ After a total of six tries, here’s everything they received.
It may not have been a huge deal, but the real draw of the machine wasn’t a tangible product visible to the human eye. The real takeaway here was the fun and excitement of wondering what might come out of the machine, and that was worth way more than every deposit of 100 yen.
▼ There aren’t really any other places in the world where you can buy “peace and equality” for 100 yen.
▼ Judging by the containers in the return spot for reuse, there weren’t many angels that day either, so they felt extra blessed to have received one.
If you’d like to try your luck at the vending machine, it’s located under a sign for “NPO Aoringo” on a black building that reads “Ad Promote Co., Ltd.”and we’ve included the address for you below.
Ad Promote operates and stocks these machines, and according to its online shop, “Omoro Shokai” (“Fun Trading Company”), the Omoro vending machines ceased operations in January this year. That means this machine, which we visited in May, is the last of its kind in the country, so if you’re like us and love visiting weird and unusual machines, this is a stop worth putting on your itinerary.
Monster Capsule is a gacha behemoth.
“Monster Capsule” might sound like the name of some cheap Pokémon knockoff, but the capsule being referred to isn’t one meant for carrying creatures around in. No, Monster Capsule is supposed to bring up thoughts of capsule toy/gachapon machines, and the Monster part of the name isn’t because the prizes are beastly in nature, but because the machine itself is gigantic.
Just how big are Monster Capsule machines? Manufacturer Gleeglobe builds them in three di
“Monster Capsule” might sound like the name of some cheap Pokémon knockoff, but the capsule being referred to isn’t one meant for carrying creatures around in. No, Monster Capsule is supposed to bring up thoughts of capsule toy/gachapon machines, and the Monster part of the name isn’t because the prizes are beastly in nature, but because the machine itself is gigantic.
Just how big are Monster Capsule machines? Manufacturer Gleeglobe builds them in three different sizes, with the biggest being 3 meters (9.8 feet) tall, as you can see in the scale image below.
Even the most compact Monster Capsule machine is huge, with a height of 2 meters, making it several times larger than a regular capsule toy machine. Because they’re so big, you won’t see long banks of Monster Capsule machines lined up outside random convenience stores. Instead, they show up at special events, and there’s one going on now in downtown Tokyo at the Parco department store in the Ikebukuro neighborhood.
Parco’s Parco Factory event space (on the 7th floor of the Ikebukuro Parco main building) is hosting the 10th anniversary celebration of capsule toy maker Qualia. The event will have merch, photo spots, games, and exclusive capsule toys as the company marks 10 years in the capsule toy world.
Qualia’s lineup includes capsule toy lines such as GhosTee and Wood-Carved Cat Pen Holders, but their most popular is the Niccolino series, which puts simple but distinctive smiley faces on all sorts of everyday objects.
▼ Niccolino onigiri (rice ball), cream soda, octopus sausage, and bread plushies, with little futons to sleep in.
With Niccolino being Qualia’s biggest hit, it’s also going into the big gacha machine, as the Monster Capsule will be stocked with premium Niccolino prizes like T-shirts, tote bags, blankets, pouches, and plushies.
Each play of the Monster Capsule machine is 1,500 yen (US$9.70), and there’s also a 1,000-yen admission fee for the Qualia 10th Anniversary Exhibition itself. The event runs from May 29 to June 22.
ABOVE: Gaza Cinderella, Northern Gaza Strip, 2012“Although her drawing is filled with soldiers, helicopters, and tanks, “Amara” only spoke about her intense fear of missile strikes. When a building or other structure is targeted in Gaza, it is often hit with a barrage of several missiles to ensure its complete destruction. The sound of successive […]
The post WAR TOYS: Photographer Brian McCarty Travels to War Zones & Refugee Camps To Communicate Children’s Stories When Words Fail first appe
ABOVE: Gaza Cinderella, Northern Gaza Strip, 2012“Although her drawing is filled with soldiers, helicopters, and tanks, “Amara” only spoke about her intense fear of missile strikes. When a building or other structure is targeted in Gaza, it is often hit with a barrage of several missiles to ensure its complete destruction. The sound of successive […]
Let’s a-go (to Mcdonald’s)!
Last month, the cast of the Chiikawa anime/manga showed up at McDonald’s Japan, but now it’s time for a new group to take their place. With Chiikawa being one of Japan’s most popular franchises these days the next batch of Happy Meal toys has some very big shoes to fill, but next up are some of Japan’s very brightest pop culture stars, Super Mario and friends (and some enemies too).
Specifically, McDonald’s Japan’s new Happy Meal toys feature Nintendo’s characters
Last month, the cast of the Chiikawa anime/manga showed up at McDonald’s Japan, but now it’s time for a new group to take their place. With Chiikawa being one of Japan’s most popular franchises these days the next batch of Happy Meal toys has some very big shoes to fill, but next up are some of Japan’s very brightest pop culture stars, Super Mario and friends (and some enemies too).
Specifically, McDonald’s Japan’s new Happy Meal toys feature Nintendo’s characters in their The Super Mario Galaxy Movie forms.
Starting June 12, Happy Meals come with one of 12 Super Mario Galaxy figures. As has become the standard policy for high-profile Japanese Happy Meal toys, the lineup is being released in stages. Round one runs from June 12 to 18, during which Mario, Frog Luigi, Yoshi, Rosalina, Birdo, and Bowser Jr. figures will be available.
▼ Rosaline, Birdo, and Bowser Jr. are named Rosetta, Catharine, and Koopa Jr. in Japan, by the way.
Round two kicks off the day after round one ends, and from June 19 to 25 your Happy Meal will contain either a Fire Mario, Princess Peach, Toad, Bowser, Luma, or Wonder Bowser Jr. figure.
An extra-cool touch is that the figures come in boxes that look like Mario question mark blocks…
…and the star-shaped bases of each figure also let you use them as key chains or bag strap clips too, as shown in the video here.
Finally, from June 26 all 12 toys will be a possibility when purchasing a Happy Meal, ostensibly drawing from any leftover stock from the first two rounds. In total, McDonald’s Japan expects the Super Mario Galaxy Happy Meal toys to be available four about four weeks, though with demand likely to be astronomical, it’s probably a good idea to try to get one as soon as possible. Meanwhile, if you’re a hungry gamer who’s more of a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest fan, there’re options to satisfy your appetite too.
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