The otaking
Welcome to the Otaking! We are a small Japanese pop-culture shop located in Amsterdam.
WHO ARE WE?
Daisuke Enomoto, a Japanese entrepreneur, moved to Amsterdam a couple of years ago and he started to dabble in selling Japanese pop-culture to the Dutch based on the historical relationship the Dutch have with the Japanese since the 16th century.
The Dutch had an exclusive trading relationship during Japan’s more than 200 years of isolation. We traded with Japan from a little island called Dejima, next to the large southern city Nagasaki. Our histories are deeply intertwined starting from that time. A lot of people don’t know about this unique history we have with Japan! We like to build on and strengthen that bond again!
When you play in our store the prices are lower than on the site. Here we don’t play the randomized game. You can only buy full sets and figurines.
COME AND PLAY
Visit our store at Spuistraat 84A Amsterdam!
WHAT IS GACHA?
Gacha Gacha, just like ‘woof woof’ (a dog barking) is an onomatopoeia that describes the sound the machine makes when you are turning the dial. Each machine is filled with Gachapon. These are small figurines containing anything imaginable from keychains and games to small lights and build-it-yourself figurines. All high Japanese quality.
When you go to Japan you will see these machines everywhere. In stations, the airport, big stores or outside on the street. Inside the machines you have a series of figurines ranging from popular anime, household items, animals, movies and tv-shows. When you play you will randomly get one items of the series. It’s up to the player if they want to collect a whole series or if they just want a single one. If you want to get the whole series you have to play multiple times and hope you don’t get any twice or three times!
FIGURINES
We also proudly offer original Japanese Figurines! From series like Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto and so on! In Japan these figurines are either played for in a UFO-Catcher (crane-game) or from the displays. Japan usually displays the figurines in clear boxes. These are part of a large collectors market.
GAMING
In the Otaking Amsterdam we have two 4K screens which we can connect to game consoles like the Nintendo Switch. We hold small game events where you can win multiple prizes from our store and restaurant (see Ramen Kingdom). We play a different game each event! Are you interested? Please take a look on our facebook:
facebook.com/otakingamsterdam
and keep an eye on our events! You can register for these events by email which will be provided on the event page.
RENTAL BOX
Stores like ours have adapted to the Japanese system by using clear boxes to display our figurines. In some stores in Japan it’s possible to rent out these boxes to the public to display their own figurines to sell. This is a commission based system.
Please contact us for more information。
