Mastering the one-armed crane

How to get big prizes from one-armed crane machines!
(Updated Jun 15, 2013)

OK, so I always thought you had to know some crazy super trick in order to win big prizes from a crane/claw machine.

But then today at Shimoda Jusco I was able to get not one, but TWO of the big Nameko plushes.
^______^

Completely by fluke, I managed to figure out the trick to getting the prizes from the machines with the prize two prizes, each hanging from a loop on a pole and a one-armed crane/claw.

Bad drawing of what the machine looks like. ^^;;

The (An) actual machine

You can kind of see the loop thing

I'd tried getting prizes from such machines before, but my strategy was completely wrong! I thought the aim was the get the claw to hook the bar part of the loop thing and lift it off the pole, but the claw is way too weak to lift it.

Even with perfect positioning this method doesn't work.

The trick is to get the claw to come straight down on the bar thing so it pushes it down and knocks it askew and eventually off the pole! (At first I was still trying to hook the prize but ended up knocking the bar accidentally and getting the prize really close to falling off.)

So all you need to do is line up the claw with the outer edge of the bar thing. (If the machine has two prizes to choose from, I recommend choosing the one further away from the claw since closer one might be too close, making it difficult get the crane in the proper position.)

Then when moving the claw backward, aim to have the "elbow" part line up with where you want the claw to hit the bar. The claw will move up and backward before scooping forward a little so if you aim for the front part (instead of the elbow) of the claw to hit the bar, it'll end up too far forward and you'll miss.

After the first hit it will probably take a couple more strategic hits before it falls off, but it's definitely doable! I really hope the 100 yen (per try) crane machine promotion at Shimoda Jusco continues for a while so I can practice/refine my technique!

(Edit: You may actually need to get the claw to hook and push the loop thing off for machines with just one prize hanging from the middle, or for other machines depending on the weight/balance of the prize and/or bar thing. I tried a machine with one Toy Story pig in the middle and the claw didn't go down as far or was just too weak to move the bar by pushing down. The push method seems to work best for the Nameko machines with two Namekos--maybe something to do with the weight/balance of the Namekos themselves? I don't know...)

Delicious sushi . . . ?

 
Looks like delicious sushi, doesn't it?

But actually they are sweets made for April Fools by Miyakin, a local okashiya, i.e. a bakery/sweets store. (It's actually originally from Shichinohe, but there's a big shop/cafe in Towada, next to the Tsutaya.)

The seaweed is really seaweed, but everything else is a confectionery. (The soy sauce is kuromitsu, a kind of molasses.)

Other than the sushi, Miyakin also made shina soba (支那そば a.k.a. ramen) and a Miyakin burger.

Even though April Fools is over, you can still buy the April Fool sweets up to this Sunday, April 7.

宮金寿司 Miyakin Sushi 850yen (5 pc sushi, "ginger" & "soy sauce")

宮金麺屋　支那そば　Miyakin Menya Shina Soba 300yen

ミヤキンバーガー Miyakin Burger 250yen

 

 

Miyakin April Fools Sweets flyer:

Spring Festival in Towada 2013 十和田市春まつり

Night-time Sakura "Light Up" 夜桜ライトアップ
Date: While the sakura are in bloom (between Apr. 20-May 5, 2013)
Time: 18:00-22:00
Place: Kanchogai Street　官庁街通り, Chuo Park　中央公園

Sakura Yabusame (Horseback Archery)　桜流鏑馬
Website | PDF Poster (Japanese only)
Date: Sat. Apr. 27- Mon. Apr. 29, 2013
Time: 10:00-14:00 (Apr. 27-28), 11:00-14:00 (Apr. 29)
Place: Chuo Park 中央公園緑地
Events: Opening Parade, Women's Yabusame Competition (Apr. 27-28), Men's Yabusame Exhibition (Apr. 29), Yabusame Bingo, etc.
Admission: Free
Special Reserved Seat Ticket (Apr. 28): 2000yen, includes bento (boxed lunch), Bingo participation fee,  horseback riding and leather craft experience fees, a present, and coupons, on sale Mar. 1-Apr. 15 at Art Station Towada Tourist Information Center アートステーショントワダ内十和田市観光物産センター, Ureshino うれし野, Kadoya かど屋
Special "Camera" Seat Ticket (better view for taking pictures): 500yen/day, limited to 30 seats, on sale during the event at the the event headquarters 本部

"Street The Party Vo. 2"
Date: Sat. Apr. 27, 2013
Time: 13:00-15:00
Place: Sakura Hiroba 桜広場 (the area around the big horseshoe statue) *or Art Station Towada in the event of rain*
Admission: Free

Yosakoi Genki Matsuri
Date: Sun. Apr. 28, 2013
Time: 13:00-15:00
Place: Sakura Hiroba 桜広場 (the area around the big horseshoe statue) *or Art Station Towada in the event of rain*
Admission: Free

Towada Nameko Hunt

Although Towada completely missed the boat with the first batch of "Nameko Snack" (chocolate-flavoured Caramel Corn), it's been no problem finding the latest version--this time a Nameko-shaped chocolate-flavoured snack.It comes in a Nameko-decorated package and includes a Nameko sticker inside.

1st gen. Nameko Snack

2nd gen. Nameko Snack

For the first version, I had to ask my friend in Sendai to get it for me when the Nameko Ichiba pop-up store went to there. (It was in Sendai while I was in Canada, otherwise I would have gone to get it myself.) This time the snacks are all over Towada! Here are the places I've found it so far:

• Towada Aeon: 98yen
• Daiso (at both the location across from Powers U and the one in Towada Aeon): 105yen
• Mini-Stop (Daigaku Dori and across from the Bunka Center): 128yen

Nameko Candy are also available at the Universe grocery store.One bag has a mix of four flavours: strawberry, green apple, orange, and...nameko!! Yes, they actually included a mushroom-flavoured candy. My "game" is that whoever wants a candy has to pick one out of the bag without looking and what they get is what they get. So far I haven't managed to get a nameko-flavoured one, but two of the five other people who have played Nameko Candy "roulette" with me have gotten "lucky". =P

Right now there's also a Nameko Minna no Kuji. You buy a 600yen ticket, draw a card out of a box and open the card to reveal the prize letter. There are 8 different types of items ranked from A to H, with the A prize being the biggest and best and the H prize being the smallest and most ordinary.

The last time (October 2012) there was such a promotion, I got really lucky and scored two of the bigger prizes. (In total I probably tried about 8 times.)

big stuffed toy and smaller prizes

2nd big prize!

This time there aren't a lot of prizes that I'm particularly interested in so I've been trying to resist buying the kuji, but after just one week I caved today and bought two tickets--just to see if I could get another big prize. Guess I used up most of my luck last time since all I got was two G prizes--Nameko figures. At least both of the figures were different ones (you can't tell what's inside when you pick the box).

Kuji tickets seem to be selling really fast. I visited three of the four stores in Towada selling them and some stores have very few prizes left (as of noon today):

• Tsutaya: very limited selection, a few A's, one D, a couple of E's, one F, three Gs and one H.
• WonderGoo: very limited selection, mostly G's and H's with a few D;s, a couple of E's and maybe (?) a couple of F's
• Mini-Stop (Daigaku Dori): quite a lot still there, only missing A and C prizes, I believe

They only went on sale last week, and at this rate I think Tsutaya could be sold out by the end of this (long) weekend! Nice to know I'm not the only Nameko-obsessed person in Towada, I guess?