Inside Japan’s Donkey Kong Ichiban Kuji Zipper Bag

Donkey Kong Ichiban Kuji Prize H Zipper Bag

What Ichiban Kuji Is, and Where Prize H Sits

Ichiban Kuji is a lottery-style prize system run by Bandai Spirits, the collectibles and hobby division of Bandai that was established as its own company in 2018. Unlike gashapon — the capsule-toy machines dispensing small items at arcade entrances and convenience stores — Ichiban Kuji uses paper tickets drawn at the counter of a participating retail location. Because prizes aren’t constrained by a capsule, they can be considerably larger and more elaborate. Each lottery run assigns prizes to lettered tiers, with upper tiers (A, B) typically holding figures and standout display pieces. Lower tiers, where Prize H falls, tend toward practical goods: towels, clear files, and pouches.

This item belongs to a Donkey Kong-themed Ichiban Kuji run that Bandai Spirits titled the Zipper Bag & Memo Collection. Six different designs make up the complete set. This Prize H version features a red background printed all over with repeating silhouettes of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and bananas — the franchise’s most iconic imagery arranged in a compact, pattern-repeat format across the entire pouch.

The Franchise Behind the Design

Donkey Kong traces back to 1981, when Shigeru Miyamoto designed the original arcade game for Nintendo — one of the same creative roots that eventually gave rise to the Mario franchise, making it one of Nintendo’s longest-running IPs. The character’s breakout moment on home consoles came in 1994 with Donkey Kong Country on the Super Famicom and SNES, developed by British studio Rare. That game introduced the lush pre-rendered visual style and the cast of Kong characters that fans still associate with the series: Donkey Kong himself, the large gorilla whose signature “DK” necktie has become his trademark, and Diddy Kong, the slimmer companion in a red cap and jacket who took center stage in Donkey Kong Country 2. The series has continued across several platforms, from Donkey Kong 64 to Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

The 2023 film The Super Mario Bros. Movie brought Donkey Kong back into mainstream conversation as a major character, renewing widespread attention to the franchise and its merchandise worldwide.

Why Fans Outside Japan Seek This Kind of Merchandise

Ichiban Kuji is sold exclusively through retail stores in Japan — convenience stores, toy shops, bookstores, and electronics chains. Each lottery run has a fixed number of tickets; once they are all drawn, that run is over with no restock. There is no international retail channel and no online storefront for overseas buyers. That closed, sold-out structure is exactly why items like this surface on the international secondary market after a run ends.

For fans of the Donkey Kong franchise in North America, Europe, and beyond — particularly those who grew up with the Donkey Kong Country games in the 1990s — officially licensed Nintendo merchandise of this kind simply does not reach local shops. The combination of Nintendo’s IP, Bandai Spirits’ production, and Japan-only distribution creates a gap that collectors notice. The existence of six distinct designs in the set also gives completionists a concrete goal: the red-background Prize H pouch is one piece of a larger picture, and tracking down all six requires some effort.