A vending machine that dispenses encapsulated toys or the rounded capsules themselves. 'Gashapon' is comprised of two Japanese onomatopoeia; 'gasha' for the sound of the crank on the vending machine, and 'pon' for the sound of the toy dropping into the receptacle.
A genre of mobile video games have emerged called gacha games ("gacha" being an alternate reading of "gasha") that use a similar randomized element. This tag refers to the physical machine, plastic capsule, and toy.