UFO Catcher Machines 1: Bread and breath

One of the things I was always looking forward to when I moved to Japan, was checking out its UFO catcher machines. You know, the claw catchers - my English has become so terrible, I had to Wiki the appropriate name we actually call them. Ah, here we go: claw vending machine, plush crane machine, UFO catcher, candy crane, claw crane, arcade claw, crane game, grabber machine, skill crane, and skill tester. Whew.

Well, whatever you decide to call it, the prizes of course are always the most sought for, and I remember countless times in my childhood spent at the Mall of America arcades or Circus Pizza (now turned into a Chuck E. Cheese) to get an awesome prize.

Of course, I always thought that it was just plush toys, figures, or electronic toys that you could win in said machines. Upon arriving, my goodness, how wrong I was.

This is the start of a new series of blog posts, to find the interesting, cute, and amazing world and set-ups, of UFO Catcher Machines in Japan.

First up, we've got some Miruku Pan, or "Milk Bread." Of course it's not really milk inside, but typically milk in cream form, or whipped cream. Bread with cream inside is pretty popular in Japan, but I never thought I'd find it in toy form so you can enjoy.. not.. eating it every day? (On the poster and claw of course, it says it looks like bread, but this isn't something you can eat!)

Once I saw the poster for this, I just had to come over. This is Hitashi Pan. I don't really know a lot about it, but literally translate it as "Dipped Milk Bread." You can also have a slice of bread dipped in milk and honey. Mmm, fake dipped in milk and honey bread that you can enjoy every day without consuming. But I guess the poster shows one way you can enjoy it..

After trying to grab for some bread, you might want to nab some tubes of Breath Palette, a product that I'm assuming lets your breath smell as the posted flavors we see in the poster behind. Let's take a closer look..


Some interesting flavors include: rose, cafe au lait, curry, Kyushu plums (I think), Darjeeling tea, espresso, pumpkin custard pudding (that actually sounds pretty interesting), and cola.

Of course, it might be a bit hard to do this one since you're not sure which one you can really get, but that's the fun of it, right?