Is 100-Yen Daiso Scratch Art Hard to Scratch? An Honest Review

I’ve been completely obsessed with scratch art lately. So, when I noticed they were selling it for just 100 yen at a 100-yen shop (Japan’s equivalent of a dollar store), I immediately bought some to try!

What is 100-yen scratch art like? How does it feel to scratch? Here are my honest thoughts.

My Review of 100-Yen Scratch Art

Daiso, one of the biggest 100-yen shop chains in Japan, had about three different scratch art themes available. I bought two of them and decided to try the “Animal Paradise” set first.

Inside the package were 4 different scratch art sheets and a wooden scratch stick.

I have to say, the wooden stick looks suspiciously like the stick from a corn dog (which we call an “American dog” in Japan)…
Still, getting 4 different designs for just 100 yen (less than a dollar!) feels like a total bargain.

How Does It Feel to Scratch?

Now, let’s start by scratching this peacock design.

One thing that bothers me right away is the “white lines.” With pricier scratch art kits, the guide lines are usually printed in gray so they aren’t as noticeable if you miss a spot. But lacking that kind of thoughtful detail is just the reality of a 100-yen product.

Well, I tried scratching it with the included wooden pen, and…

It’s hard to scratch…

The handle is basically just a bamboo skewer—or a literal corn dog stick—so it’s incredibly awkward to hold. The scratching tip is way too thick, too…

Because of that, I decided to switch to my own dedicated fancy scratch art pen.

But it’s STILL hard to scratch!

I quickly realized it wasn’t a problem with the pen; the paper quality itself just isn’t great. First of all, the white guide lines are stiff, causing the pen to slip. On top of that, the paper underneath is fragile. If you press even slightly too hard, you end up scraping right through the colorful layer beneath the black coating!

I decided to give up on my fancy pen and go back to the included “corn dog stick”…

My Thoughts After Finishing

Here it is after tracing all the lines. It’s pretty jagged, so please forgive the mess… The wooden stick is actually gentler on the paper and prevents unwanted scratches, but it’s still undeniably hard to use.

After that, I scratched away larger areas as I pleased to reveal more colors. Here is the finished piece!

Large areas were really difficult to clear out, so I ended up leaving quite a bit of black residue. Let’s just call it “artistic texture”…
Getting 4 sheets for 100 yen means each sheet is only 25 yen. For that price, it turned out pretty nice… I guess?

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Super cheap.
• Surprisingly cute designs.
• If you use the included wooden stick, it’s not completely impossible to scratch.

Cons

• The paper is fragile. You can’t apply pressure, and even a fingernail can easily scratch it.
• The wooden pen is literally a corn dog stick.
• Despite the fragile paper, the black coating is tough, making it hard to scrape off.
• Please don’t print the guide lines in stark white!!

Great for a Trial Run

The cons definitely stood out to me. The scratching experience is entirely different from a standard-priced kit, so it would be a shame if someone tried this 100-yen version and thought, “Oh, so this is all scratch art is.”

However, if you just need something for kids to play with, or if you simply want to test the waters to see what scratch art is like, this 100-yen kit is more than enough to have fun.

Honestly, the fact that you can buy almost anything for 100 yen in today’s world is just incredible…

By the way, I actually figured out a trick to scratch this 100-yen art perfectly cleanly later on! Be sure to check out that post, too.

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