A handmade PythagoraSwitch video. A collection of my DIY Pythagora devices.

100-yen shop items

[How to Build a PythagoraSwitch Machine] Let's make a legit PythagoraSwitch using 10 items from the 100-yen shop Daiso!

I’ve heard that more people are making Rube Goldberg-style PythagoraSwitch devices as their summer vacation projects.

Larger setups can cost money in materials, but it’s reassuring if you can make good use of 100-yen shop items from places like Daiso or Seria.

Here, we’ll introduce 100-yen items that seem useful for PythagoraSwitch.

First and foremost: plastic sheets.

You can roll them, cut them, and greatly expand your creative possibilities.

They come in a variety of types, from hard to soft, so pick them up and feel the texture yourself.

It’s also a good idea to plan your device backward from 100-yen items like marbles, cans, houseplants, and wood.

Marble coaster

Pythagora Device (Pythagora Switch) Marble Coaster – Summer Vacation Craft

PythagoraSwitch is all about showing a spherical object rolling along, using various mechanisms and ideas.

So how about making a marble coaster—a coaster that purely rolls marbles, like a roller coaster but for marbles? One of the charms of a marble coaster is that if you make it compact, you can carry it around.

For the main materials, we recommend chopsticks and cardboard, which are easy to work with and inexpensive.

Starting from scratch can be tough, so be sure to take inspiration from real roller coasters!

stationery

[Handmade] I tried making a PythagoraSwitch with various stationery!

PythagoraSwitch is essentially an extension of educational programming, so it’s only natural that lots of stationery shows up.

Start with pencils—they make it easy to build tracks for marbles and balls.

Combine them with rubber bands and tape, and you can even create bridge-like structures.

Notebooks are another handy item; roll one slightly and you can make an area like a snowboard half-pipe, adding a thrilling touch to freely moving marbles.

It’s a bit cliché, but erasers can stand in for dominoes.

Gathering a lot of erasers is tough, but watching them topple in large numbers is incredibly satisfying!

Food and beverage containers

A PythagoraSwitch made from the containers of meals I kept eating at McDonald’s.

At NHK, showing specific company logos or products is considered a no-go.

There’s even an old urban legend about an NHK drama where a vending machine dispensed drinks with the product names covered by duct tape—maybe it happened, maybe it didn’t.

So, how about making a PythagoraSwitch-style contraption using empty containers from restaurants? Using branded containers—like McDonald’s cups and straws, CoCo Ichibanya curry bowls and spoons, or takeout containers from family restaurants like Gusto—would make the video really pop.

Creating one with a “only McDonald’s,” “only Starbucks,” etc., constraint would have a strong impact too!

Pittashi Gora Switch

Pittashi Gora Switch Vol. 27 — Pythagora Device (Rube Goldberg Machine) — Pythagoras Switch — Pitagoraswi (Korean)

When you first start making PythagoraSwitch-style machines (Rube Goldberg machines), you probably have plenty of ideas in stock, but after building 10 or 20 of them, you’re bound to run out of material.

It’s a good idea to look for inspiration by watching the original NHK PythagoraSwitch and videos made by enthusiasts.

You might suddenly come up with ideas you didn’t have before—like turning something flat into a three-dimensional structure, or not only relying on precisely calculated effects but also making use of the fun of serendipity.

If you’re recording your own PythagoraSwitch builds on video, it might also be a refreshing change of pace to compile just the failures into a blooper reel!