A vending machine that randomly dispenses encapsulated toys or the rounded capsules themselves. 'Gashapon' is comprised of two Japanese onomatopoeia; 'gasha' for the sound of the crank on the vending machine, and 'pon' for the sound of the toy dropping into the receptacle. Also known as "gachapon" due to copyright reasons, as the word "gashapon" was patented by Bandai, the original creator of the machine.
A genre of mobile video games have emerged called gacha games ("gacha" being an alternate reading of "gasha") that use a similar randomized element. This tag refers to the physical machine, plastic capsule, and toy.
