Kura Sushi faces allegations of prize tampering in Chiikawa collaboration

Customers of the Japanese conveyor belt sushi chain Kura Sushi have raised concerns regarding the company’s ongoing collaboration with the character Chiikawa. Many users on social media reported spending significant amounts—some as much as 18,000 yen—without receiving any of the five available Chiikawa figures from the ‘Bikkura Pon’ lottery game, instead receiving only badges or magnets.

Allegations have surfaced on social media suggesting that some store employees may be tampering with the machines to remove figures for personal profit. Some users claimed to have witnessed staff hiding capsules, while others pointed to large quantities of complete figure sets being sold on the resale platform Mercari. One social media user reported that an employee previously admitted to reselling the prizes.

In response to inquiries, Kura Sushi explained that the prizes are not distributed equally within a single machine. Instead, they are replenished from mixed boxes containing various types of prizes, which can lead to situations where certain types do not appear for extended periods or seem to be distributed unevenly.