Big success for Japan's cute capsule toys

TOKYO - A tiny replica of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus and a plastic cat squatting on sushi: Just two of the weird-and-wonderful capsule toys that have become a multimillion-dollar craze in cute-obsessed Japan.

The industry is now worth an estimated 30 billion yen ($265 million), with the fastidious attention to detail in the toys appealing to the Japanese sense of precision along with a well-documented love of all things "kawaii" or cute.

One store, in Tokyo's famous Akihabara electronics district, is crammed with around 500 capsule toy vending machines stretching out as far as the eye can see.