Japanese gacha machine in Shibuya now sells tiny capsule terrariums

We join the “koke katsu” trend to find out if these little ecosystems are as easy to make as they say.

Japan is famous for its gacha machines , which dispense all sorts of products at random, through the clever use of capsules .

After purchasing everything from tiny edible cakes to Casio Watch rings at these machines, we thought we’d seen everything we could possibly see…until the other day, when we stumbled upon a surprise find at Shibuya Hikarie in Tokyo .

After stopping by the building for lunch, we were initially drawn to a store on the fifth floor, which grabbed our attention with its rows and rows of what looked like aquariums from a distance.

Stepping closer, we found that the name of the store was “ Terrariums Shibuya ”, and that was exactly what it was selling.

Terrariums enjoyed a bit of a boom in Japan when people were spending more time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving rise to the term “ koke katsu ” (“moss hobby”) amongst enthusiasts.

With terrariums being essentially miniature ecosystems that need to be cared for , we’d always felt a bit too intimidated to take up the hobby, but here in this store we came across something that was perfect for newbies like us. ▼ A “Capsule Terrarium” gacha machine ! Now this seemed like something we might be able to manage.

Small, cute and cheap – each turn of the machine cost 500 yen (US$3.33) – the “ Feel the Garden ” capsule terrariums contain everything you need to make a mossy terrarium, including the moss, an essential element. ▼ A cultivation kit for growing moss…all inside a gacha capsule.

After receiving our tiny gacha terrarium, we couldn’t resist spinning the handle on the machine beneath , which sold “ Terrarium Figurine Gacha ” for 300 yen.

Excited to find out what lay inside the capsules, we took them home and decided to start by opening the “ Capsule Terrarium ”.

Inside, we found the following items: Moss , Waterproof Sticker , Terrarium Soil , Decorative stones , Decorative Sand (the sand and stone types are random to each capsule) , Tweezers , Dropper , Spoon , Pick , Fixing ring , Instructions .

We were honestly surprised by just how much had been packed into the little container.

Of course, the capsule itself is an essential part of the setup, so we immediately got to work, following the included instructions and video link to set it up. ▼ The first step involved placing the waterproof sticker over the hole in the capsule, and then adding the terrarium soil.

After arranging the decorative stones in the sand and pushing them in slightly, we used the dropper to add water until the entire surface of the soil became dark brown.