The best thing you can get from a gacha machine? An instant reminder that the work you do has value.
In Japan, capsule toy vending machines, commonly called gachapon or just plain gacha, are a common site at toy stores, shopping centers, and tourist attractions. However, one place you wouldn’t expect to find one is inside an office.
But there is indeed a gachapon machine in the employee workspace of Hyogo Prefecture cosplay supply company Takumi Kogei, also known as Takumi Armory. However, the machine isn’t stocked with miniature rice cooker replicas or Pokémon cosplay hoods for pet cats to wear. Instead, this gacha machine dispenses self-affirmation.
Takumi Armory employee Suzu (@Suzu_momoi on Twitter) shared the above photos of the company’s “Self-Affirmation Gacha Machine.” The machine is operated with special tokens that the company’s president gives to workers when they’ve done a good job or the company receives a message of thanks from a client. Once an employee receives a medal, they insert it into the machine, turn the crank, and out pops a capsule which contains an immediate cash bonus!
Granted, it’s not a huge sum, with the possible payouts being 100, 500, or 1,000 yen (US$0.93, $4.67, or $9.35). Still, in a country filled with 100-yen shops and convenience stores stocked with all sorts of tasty 100-yen snacks, a few extra yen in your pocket is always enough to treat yourself to one of life’s little luxuries. But what’s more important than the modest windfall is the direct, physical, and fun acknowledgment that the employee has done something good. “As people grow up, we start to feel like ‘Doing a good job is a matter of course,’ and ‘It’s obvious that you’re supposed to do your job well,” Suzu says. “But sometimes the things we do are a huge help to others, so let’s show our appreciation, and make it a moment to celebrate when someone says thank you to us!”
True to her words, when Takumi Armory’s factory manager recently got a Self-Affirmation Gacha medal and his capsule had a 500-yen coin in it, the whole office erupted in cheers, and other Twitter users are also applauding the company’s unique management style, with comments such as:
“People who never lose their sense of fun are the best.”
“You must feel like an excited kid again every time you turn the handle.”
“Your boss sounds like a really fun guy.”
“I want to get a job at this company.”
“I’m going to borrow this idea for my office.”
Oh, and for anyone who might be thinking that a company with time for silly fun isn’t a company that does good work, think again, as Takumi Armory’s designs are top-notch, as these photos and video show.
The company regularly exhibits its works at overseas anime conventions such as Los Angeles’ Anime Expo and offers cosplay items and accessories thorough its online shop here. They even do custom-order work–just be sure to send a thank-you email once your piece is done, so that employees who filled your order can get their gacha medals.
Related: Takumi Armory
Source, images: Twitter/@Suzu_momoi via Jin
Images: Twitter/@Suzu_momoi
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!