Let’s a-go to Nintendo Kyoto and then Daiso!

It’s hard to fully convey just how much cool stuff there is at Nintendo’s official shops in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Not that we haven’t tried to convey it, of course, but when you’re dealing with a company that’s created so many beloved video game series with iconic visual designs, there’s really no end to the possible inspirations.

But while we may have unlimited desire for awesome Nintendo merch, there are limits to our budget, as well as our carrying capacity and luggage space to get those items home. Luckily, if you’re shopping at one of Japan’s Nintendo shops and find yourself looking for just one more memorable souvenir that won’t completely empty your wallet or fill up your suitcase, there’s a perfect option.

You can find these bins in any of the three Nintendo shops — at the Kyoto branch they’re very close to the entrance. Go in for a closer look and you’ll see…

…miniature versions of tons of different Nintendo characters and in-game items! And not just for flagship franchise Super Mario, but also for titles like Animal Crossing…

…Splatoon…

…and Pikmin!

These are mini erasers, and rather than sell them one by one, the Nintendo stores let you take home as many as you can fit into this bottle for just 550 yen (US$3.70).

There’s no time limit, so you can take all the time you want deciding which ones you want to put in your bottle, and mixing and matching from different series is A-OK.

There is the stipulation that you have to be able to fit the bottle’s cap on, but even with that we were able to get 15 Pikmin into a single bottle…

…and we also splurged on two more bottles which we filled with Super Mario and Animal Crossing selections, plus a few more larger-sized Pikmin creatures.

Nintendo could have gone low-effort here, simply stamping some blurry illustrations onto eraser blocks with a standardized square design. Instead, in keeping with the company’s tradition of taking pride in craftsmanship, each eraser feels like a mini figure, with all lovingly rendered details and careful contouring.

▼ We could even recreate some scenes from the games!

However, as cool as they are, we honestly don’t have that many opportunities to use erasers in our daily lives (with SoraNews24 being an online publication, our boss really doesn’t like it when we submit articles written in pencil). To be fair though, even if we did need to erase something, we don’t think we’d want to use our little Nintendo friends anyway, and would probably just use some plain, normal erasers from Daiso…which is also where we got a great idea for how to have even more fun with our Nintendo erasers.

Like a lot of 100 yen shops, Daiso branches often have a corner with handy items for otaku-oriented arts and crafts. Right now they’ve got what they call “Can Badge Key Holder Sets,” key holder clips attached to a clear circular case in which to put a round pin bearing the likeness of your favorite idol or anime/game character. You don’t have to put a pin in there, though, and instead you can use the container for…

…your Nintendo erasers! Since they’ve got a clip at one end, you can also attach the case to your bag to show off your cool DIY Nintendo salute to other fans while you’re out and about.

Note that Daiso offers the Can Badge Key Holder Set in two sizes, so you’ll want to choose whichever is the better fit for the number/size of erasers you’re going to put inside. You don’t want to leave too much empty space, since closer quarters between the individual erasers will keep the overall layout more stable.

Other 100 yen shops also have similar holder straps, so you can probably find a suitable substitute at other chains too, but sourcing yours from Daiso also lets you pick up some of their acrylic blocks for another very cool otaku art project.

Related: Nintendo official store
Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]