Retro signboards and sento (public bathhouses) - This month's gacha is a nostalgic taste of the Showa period! Wacky Kaiyama's latest gacha exploration No. 45

Since October 2020, we have been releasing gacha-related videos on our official YouTube channel, "Wacky Gacha Channel. Thinking about it, since we do something about gacha every day, I wondered if we could make a video by just taking a quick video of it and editing it a little. I thought lightly. Now that I've said it publicly, I have no choice but to do it. ......

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Now, there are only 3 more shows left for this year, including this one! This time, we would like to introduce some items that are full of Showa-era retro style.

Showa-era retro signboard: Cigarettes and salt rainbow, 6 types, 300 yen

The world is in the midst of a "Showa Retro" boom! I have published a new book entitled "Gacha Love 100% Wacky presents Showa Retro Gacha: The Strongest Collection" (Graphix, Inc.), and it seems like this wave is sweeping through the capsule toy industry, with about 250 new items being released every month.

As I look through the gachas in a window-shopping fashion, I notice that there are quite a few items on the market that remind me of the Showa era.

For this issue, we will first introduce a gacha from up-and-coming manufacturer Rainbow. Of course, this is their first appearance in this series. The lineup of retro enameled signboards with only "salt" and "cigarettes" is very particular about its lineup.

Salt signboard - normal version

First, let's start with the normal version. In the past, salt had a patent system and could not be sold freely. This signboard is a marker for stores that can sell salt.

The sign is compact at 40 mm on the long side, but it is a solid and splendid enamel sign. The material, colors, and font are all good.

The bottom space is the name of a financial company. This is "a thing," isn't it? If you go to the suburbs, you can still find new signboards.

There is a hole at the top, so you can put a chain through it to make a key chain.

Salt signboard "Rusty Ver.

You can sometimes find these signs in the eaves of now-decayed stores that were once bustling with customers. It must have been watching the traffic from this spot for many years. The ...... sign is as poignant as the "Big Old Clock" with this store.

I wonder if there is an actual sign referring to this? I don't think it is possible to reproduce this color just by imagination.

Cigarette signboard (Kakoku Seimei)

Tobacco" is written diagonally. Yes, it was red with white.

Since cigarettes cannot be sold without an application, this sign was also a marker for stores that dealt in them.

It is still a conspicuous sign. The name of the life insurance company below is also realistic! The logo also looks exactly the same, but I think it is OK to make a slight modification like this.

Cigarette signboard (Rusty Ver.)

This rusty sign is perfect! The sign has been beautifully stained. It is so realistic that it looks as if it is a miniature of an actual sign. Personally, I think this is a must-have item in this collection. I feel the nostalgia.

Cigarette signboard, normal ver.

It would be a miracle if such a beautiful signboard remains in the modern age! The typeface is gentle and stirs up the image of cigarettes in those days as "a smoke that produces peace of mind.

Secret

Only a silhouette of the signboard is shown on the base, but this time, we would like to show you a special secret.

Ta-da! The text below reads "Gift Certificate Shop! Yes, it is a community-based anything-you-can-eat sign. In the past, I used to think that stores that could handle gift certificates were stores with a higher status.

Rainbow, the company introduced here, also offers other gacha products, such as an acrylic ball chain for a long-established Toyama-based medicine store and a retro signboard for Fujiya.

Will Rainbow continue to develop the "Always: Sunset on Third Street"-style Showa-retro field in the future?

I can't stop being excited!

Public bathhouse miniature collection: Ken Elephant, 5 types, 500 yen

Another Showa-era style gacha is now available!

Recently, an "online sentou" has appeared, but the sentou, still a friend of the common people, has become a miniature figure in the age of 2025. In the miniature book, you will find the developer's passionate comments and tips on how to play with the figures, just like a public bathhouse. Let's take a look at it while being careful not to get burned by the hot water.

Daikokuyu

First, let's take a look at Daikokuyu, the "King of Public Baths" in Adachi-ku, Tokyo. The building with a downtown atmosphere is irresistible. The magnificent chimney, the karahafu roof, the noren curtain at the entrance, and even the courtyard have all been recreated. Even the courtyard has been recreated. The uncompromising quality of the workmanship is the best! The uncompromising quality of the workmanship is the best.

Scales and changing baskets

This item is a corporate collaboration with Tanaka Shoki Kogyosho, which sells scales and other products. The scales are well-known in public bathhouses, but even though they are so small, the needle of the scale can be changed to your favorite position. The rope pattern of the changing basket is also beautifully finished.

Massage machine and coffee milk

This is a collaboration with "Family Inada," a massage chair manufacturer. The leather-covered massager is a very nice piece of work, from its color and luster to the way the leather is stretched. You can almost hear the unique sound of leather rubbing against each other.

The bottled coffee milk is a collaboration with "Meiji". Drinking cold coffee milk and having a massage ...... is a blissful time, isn't it?

©meiji

Sento and Sento Painting

The painting of Mt. Fuji is a faithful reproduction of the work of Morio Nakajima, one of only three paint artists in Japan. Fuji looks as if it is blotched with tears. The bathtub full of tiled bathtubs also looks just like the real thing. Just looking at the bathtub is a relaxing experience.

Five-piece bathhouse set

When I first picked up the capsule, I was surprised at how light it was. When I opened the capsule, I found that it was filled with many small things. Miniature lovers will be enraptured! This item is a collaboration with Kao.

Merit" shampoo from the 1980s, about 2.5 cm in size. This brings back memories! I used to use it! And the soap, less than 1.5 cm in size, also comes with a retro box. A chair and a washbasin are also included in the set as a no-no.

In addition, a figure of "Yupo-kun," the official character of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bathhouse Association & National Association of Bathhouses, is included at random. You will be lucky if you get this!

Looking at this product made me want to go to a public bathhouse.

Perhaps it is because we live in an age where people don't feel comfortable interacting with each other, that they are even more eager to get naked with other people. The capsule toys on display this time were a collection of items that will make you think back to the distant past and connect your feelings to the future.

I wonder what kind of feelings those of the generation who did not know the Showa era might have had. Perhaps there is a bit of a Showa boom happening because of the desire to explore life in an unknown era.

Now that my heart and body are all warmed up, I'm off on another journey to find new gacha!

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Wacky Kaizan

Freelance TV personality and gacha-gacha collector (capsuleer)

He has been collecting GACHA-GACHA since he was 7 years old and owns 100,000 of them. He has published several books, including "All About My Beloved Phony Gachagacha Cosmos," "The Wonderful World of Phony Gachagacha - Cosmos Forever," and "The Final and Definitive Edition! The Truth of Phony Gacha Gacha - Cosmos, Its Love" (Futabasha) and "Japan Nostalgic Gacha Gacha Compendium" (Tatsumi Shuppan).
Every week ㈬ he shows videos of the latest gacha gacha and ㈯ retro "cosmos" gacha on his official YouTube channel "Wacky Kaiyama Gacha Channel!