Last year, the Heisei Period ended after about 30 years and here we are now in Reiwa, the new era of Japan.

Time flies by so quickly and nowadays the word Showa has such a nostalgic sound to it and it seems like something that happened way long in the past.

Old anime, old commercials, items, songs are still present and sometimes we feel like going through the old albums or recordings left to bring up some of the old days.

I was born in the Heisei period; however, I feel closer to Japan’s Showa period because in my country, many of the items, games, even atmosphere, and way of thinking, was more similar to Showa rather than Heisei.

I stumbled upon a few items from Japan, some were familiar to me, some weren’t, but the natsukashii (nostalgic) feeling I get from them makes me reminiscence my past and immerse myself in the good old memories.

Here are a few of the popular items popular in Japan during the Showa period:

Waterful Ring Toss/Water Toy Game

All the good memories! I think many of you might be familiar with this one as it was popular until later and even nowadays, you can see it online or in toy stores.

I used to love this toy, but sometimes I would get super frustrated not being able to hook the rings onto the posts.

Looks easy, but in fact, you’ll struggle quite a bit.

Print Gokko

Gokko is translated as make-believe/pretend and the small machine of print gokko, sold in 1977, gave the impression of a toy because of its sound and appearance, but it was enjoyed by adults, too.

The small printing machine became so popular and quite a useful item for printing New Years' cards and small posts cards, illustrations, etc.

The Roulette Type Fortune （Roulette Omikuji）

I saw it a few times when going to old soba shops or izakaya.

Sometimes they have it on the tables of old restaurants and it looks so adorable and retro.

You insert 100 yen into a small hole of your zodiac sign and pull the lever sideways.

The roulette wheel will then, rotate and you’ll get a small scroll with your fortune-telling result.

The number will be determined by the small silver ball inside and it is such a fun way to wait until you get what you ordered.

In the past, too, these roulette fortunes were placed on the tables of the restaurants so people can use it as a form of distraction while waiting.

Rainbow slinky Toy

This classic toy made my childhood a very happy one and I remember playing with it all day long when I was a kid.

I still have it in my hometown and hopefully, when I have kids, they’ll love it as much as I do.

The Slime Toy

Do you remember the slimy, sticky green toy also known as Flubber? God! My sister used to love it, especially when she was playing dodgeball in our house using Flubber instead of the ball. Fun Memories…

Kinkeshi/Kinnikuman Eraser

Kinkeshi was a popular line of erasers that featured professional wrestling characters from the popular anime and manga Kinnikuman.

It was launched in 1983 and quickly became well-known abroad, too. It was marketed in the US and Europe under different names and has become a beloved Showa item that brings back lots of memories.

These are some of the natsukashii items and toys from Showa and hopefully, I got you to say “Oh! So Nostalgic!” and made you remember the good all times after reading this article.