Ichiban Kuji:

Translation: Number one lottery. A system owned by 'Bandai Namco,' primarily based out of Japan and other SEA countries. To play the lottery, you must visit anime shops or stores that run them. The primary way to recognize those shops is through posters hung outside these shops.

Is Kuji exclusively available in Japan and nowhere else? In short, yes and no.  It is solely in Japan, but there are proxy sites and people who play the lottery on your behalf and send the items to you via post, no matter where you live. However, Kujis can only be played by residents/visitors or people who have valid addresses in Japan.

A few Kujis are available in the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the USA, and a few other countries, but they are minimal. Ichiban Kuji lotteries are a guaranteed win. From figures to merchandise, anime related and otherwise. You have the chance to win anything and everything.

The prizes are labeled alphabetically, starting from A up to any, depending on the number of tickets allotted. Figures are mainly the initial alphabets followed by smaller merch items after a specific letter. These alphabets denote the 'Ranking' of the prize, where the A prize is ranked higher than the B prize, and so on. A shop typically has around 80 tickets, each priced at about 750 Yen (these in no way determine the resale value of the items.)

The top priority is the 'LAST ONE' prize, given to the person who opens the final ticket the shop offers for that Kuji line. With the pull, every item the shop has left, be it the posters and hangers or any other promotional item related to the line, is given to that person. It is usually a paint alternative to any figure the line offers. Occasionally, it is a different figure altogether.

Ichiban Kujis are primarily linked with Anime/manga related to JUMP! You can check more here. Additionally, there are non-mainstream anime, merchandise, or even cosmetic items for everyone. Recently, there has been an addition of a new type of prize called the 'Double Chance' prize, where people have one more chance of getting a prize that may be from the same line, an alternate color prize, or a different figure of the same line. Only the people who have played the Kuji are eligible for this prize.

However, this continues; various countries have the international version of the Kujis. These are known as Ichibansho, sold by Bandai Namco as an alternative to the Ichiban Kujis. They may or may not have a slight variation from them, but they have a retail value and are available to purchase worldwide (if you have contacts or from retail websites that ship to your place.)

If you want to check out past and upcoming Ichiban Kujis, you can check out this link. For all your Kuji needs in India, check out our website or drop a DM on the links below with your wishlist items and leave everything else for YOGINSTINCT!