Why Gacha Shops Became a Seoul Shopping Stop

Walk out of Hongik University Station on a Saturday evening and you will hear it before you see it: the dry click of a handle turning, then the hollow knock of a plastic capsule dropping into a tray. Gacha shops, rooms lined floor to ceiling with capsule-toy machines, have moved from a niche hobby to one of the most ordinary stops on a Seoul shopping day. The word comes from gachapon, the Japanese name for these machines, and in Korea people simply say gacha or capsule toy.

The numbers show how fast visitors have joined in. When the Korea Tourism Organization analyzed card spending by foreign tourists in December 2025, transactions at gacha shops from January to September 2025 were up 142.0 percent on the same period a year earlier. That was a far bigger jump than stationery shops (48.7 percent) or bookstores (39.9 percent). The same analysis found that visitors now make many more mid-priced purchases instead of a few expensive ones, which describes a gacha run almost exactly.

Inside Korea, shoppers in their twenties and thirties made the shops mainstream first. A March 2026 report from the Hankyung described more than 200 machines lined up two high on the fourth floor of AK Plaza in Hongdae, where the machine count had more than doubled in about a year and a half. The same report listed Yongsan, Seongsu, Ikseon-dong and university neighborhoods as places where new shops keep opening. The appeal is easy to understand: a small, affordable reward, a moment of suspense and a tiny object you can carry home in a pocket.

How It Works: Prices, Tokens and Paying by Card

Every machine has a display card on the front showing the series inside: usually five to ten variants of one theme, from anime figures and miniature food to character pouches and keyrings. One turn gives you one capsule, and you cannot choose which variant comes out. That is the whole game. Read the card before you pay, because it tells you the price, how many variants there are and sometimes which one is the rare "secret" piece.

Prices. Gacha used to cost around 1,000 won a turn. According to the Hankyung's March 2026 report, the average is now about 6,000 to 8,000 won, and popular or premium series go above 15,000 won; a Gundam and Hatsune Miku collaboration sold for 17,000 won a turn. Most machines you meet will sit somewhere between 3,000 and 8,000 won. Five turns at a mid-priced machine is roughly the cost of a casual lunch, which is worth keeping in mind once the clicking starts.

Paying by card. The biggest change of the last few years is that you no longer need a pocket of coins everywhere. Many newer machines, especially in the brand-run shops inside malls, have a small screen and a card reader on the front: the screen shows the price, you tap or insert your card, then turn the handle. Most readers take ordinary credit and debit cards, but one can occasionally decline a foreign card, so it is worth carrying a little cash as a backup.

Tokens and shop coins. Smaller independent shops often run on their own tokens. You change cash at a machine or the counter, then feed the tokens into the slot; the machine's label tells you how many it needs. At Gacha Ocean in Yeonnam-dong, for example, one coin equals 1,000 won and you exchange cash or a bank transfer for coins. At shops in the Kukje Electronics Center, coins bought at the counter can only be used in that shop and are not refunded, so change only what you plan to spend.

A few small habits make the visit easier. Look for the bin where empty capsules go, since most shops ask you to leave the plastic behind. Check whether the shop allows swaps or sells loose duplicates. And decide on a number of turns before you start; the machines are designed to make "one more" feel reasonable.

Where to Go: Hongdae, Jamsil, Yongsan and Kukje

Hongdae. If you only have time for one area, make it this one. AK Plaza Hongdae sits right by Hongik University Station, and its fourth floor holds Gashapon Street, the capsule-toy shop that Bandai Namco Korea opened there, surrounded by rows of other machines. Around the station you will find independent shops too: Gacha Ocean in Yeonnam-dong has more than 100 machines and runs on its own coins, and Kkokkiribap Capsule Toy near the station imports capsule toys from Japan and lets you see some of the contents before you buy. Pair the visit with the rest of the neighborhood using our guide to things to do in Hongdae.

Jamsil. On December 18, 2025, Bandai Namco Korea opened FUN SQUARE on the second floor of Lotte World Mall. It brings Gundam model kits, anime figures, a Gashapon Bandai Official Shop and Ichiban Kuji prize draws into one space, which makes it the easiest place to see a wide official lineup in a single stop. Bandai Namco Korea runs a second Gashapon Bandai Official Shop nearby, on the basement level of Lotte World's shopping mall building. Both are a natural add-on to a day at Lotte World Tower or Seokchon Lake.

Yongsan. Yongsan I'Park Mall turned the third floor of its Living Park building into Dopamine Station, a large hall of character goods, pop-ups, claw machines, custom keyboards and gacha. The Hankyung reported that the mall's gacha sales reached 1.3 billion won in January 2026 alone. Upstairs, the Bandai Namco Korea Store on the sixth floor of the same building has its own Gashapon Bandai Official Shop. The mall connects directly to Yongsan Station, so it works well on a rainy day.

Kukje Electronics Center. For serious collectors, this electronics building in Seocho, a short walk from Nambu Bus Terminal Station on Line 3, has become a gacha landmark. According to an August 2026 visit by The Edit, gacha runs through the building from the ninth floor down to the second, with the widest selection on the ninth floor and one of the largest gacha shops on the third. Prices and stock differ from shop to shop, so walk every floor before you spend, and go on a weekday if you can, because weekends get crowded.

Gimpo Airport. Flying in or out through Gimpo? Lotte Mall Gimpo Airport has another Gashapon Bandai Official Shop inside its FUN SQUARE on the ground floor, an easy last stop before a flight.

Seongsu. The pop-up district has its own scattering of gacha corners and blind-box shops between the brand stores. If you are already there, our Seongsu-dong walking guide maps the streets worth wandering.

Doll Keyrings: The Bag Charm Seoul Keeps Clipping On

Look at the bags on any Seoul subway carriage and you will spot them: small plush dolls swinging from zips and straps, sometimes three or four on a single tote. Koreans even have a word for the habit, baek-kku, short for decorating your bag, and doll keyrings have become its centerpiece. For many younger shoppers a keyring is a cheap, changeable way to show what they like, a character, a color or a mood, on something they carry every day.

Gacha shops are one of the best hunting grounds. Alongside figures, many machines hold plush mascots, mini pouches and keyrings, which means a single turn can end with something ready to clip straight onto your bag. Character stores and stationery and lifestyle chains such as Artbox, where the Korea Tourism Organization's data shows foreign card transactions rising sharply at several branches, carry larger and pricier versions.

The most Korean twist is making your own. Moru dolls, small animals twisted from fuzzy chenille wire, took off after celebrities were seen with them hanging from their bags. In December 2025 Daiso launched a DIY doll-making range of about 20 products, including moru kits for a black cat with a pearl necklace and a curly pink rabbit, plus felt doll kits, all designed to be finished as keychain dolls. Daiso's prices top out at 5,000 won, so a kit makes an easy souvenir and a quiet evening project at your hotel. Our Daiso Korea shopping guide covers what else to pick up in the same aisles.