Whether you shout it out for all to hear or whisper it inside your heart, “Ah, sweet!” is a perfectly logical reaction to winning something at a crane game/UFO catcher. If you’re playing the machines at certain arcades in and around Tokyo this fall, though, you can amend that to “Ah sweet..
.potato!” Tore Tore Ya is a chain of crane game-exclusive arcades known for their massive selection of machines, with their branch in the city of Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, being recognized by the Guinness World’s Records association for having the largest number of crane games in a single location in 2012. Having so many machines lets Tore Tore Ya go beyond the orthodox offerings of Pokemon plushies, anime figures, and the like, and as of October 7 four Tore Tore Ya branches have Yaki-imo (Roasted Sweet Potato) Catchers in operation.
You play the game just like any other crane game, using the controls to manipulate the claw and grab your prize, which in this case is a raw sweet potato. Of course, while autumn is the season for sweet potatoes, they need to be roasted to unlock their full flavor, so near the Yaki-imo Catcher you’ll also find a microwave to roast them in, with a specially designed sweet potato roasting container inside. The cooking directions, posted on a sheet above the microwave, say to place the sweet potato you’ve won inside the container and let it cook for 4 to 5 minutes at a setting of 500 to 600 watts.
Once that’s done, use the provided oven mitts to.