Purikura Photo Booths Japan

Purikura [プリクラ] are automatic photo machines found all over Japan and are very popular among girls. In these machines, you can take sticker photos and share them with friends.

In addition to sticker photos, you can add frames, phrases, and even edit the photos before printing them. You can find purikura machines in any Game Center, amusement park, and other landmarks.

These machines are quite popular among friends, but they are also the perfect opportunity to take and keep a photo with your crush, boyfriend, or group of friends. Today, these photo booths have even become popular in the West.

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How did purikura originate?

The first purikura machines were developed jointly by Atlus and Sega, launched in 1995, and became popular in 1997. The first machine was called Print Club.

In fact, the name Purikura is a combination of the words Print Club, which in Japanese is pronounced “Purinto Kurabu” [プリント倶楽部]. The old machines only had frames for photos and printed only two to three photos per session.

The idea was conceived in 1994 by Sasaki Miho, inspired by the popularity of the kawaii photographic culture of the 90s, where girls would stick photos in albums. Working at a gaming company, her idea was initially rejected by men.

Initially, these photo booths were introduced in arcades but later expanded to karaoke, pop culture venues, fast food restaurants, train stations, bowling alleys, and others.

How does Purikura work?

The tools present in Purikura today help change skin texture, remove blemishes, slim the chin, enlarge the eyes, etc., in addition to a wide variety of effects like hearts, stars, sparkles, etc.

Some machines make automatic alterations, often making your eyes look bigger, legs longer and thinner, body size smaller and slimmer, hair softer, gaze brighter, and making your skin whiter. You can adjust these effects, but generally, it is not possible to remove them completely.

The machines are divided into two parts: the photo booth and the Rakugaki [落書き] corner, which means doodling. In the Rakugaki corner, you can choose which pens to write with and use stamps in the shape of hearts, stars, animals, mustaches, wigs, and others…

The current machines are quite modern. The display of the machine in the photo booth is of high quality. It responds to touch, fingers, and pens. It is even better than our televisions.

Some modern machines even allow you to send the photo via email or to your cell phone so you can send it to anyone or share it on social media instead of being limited to printed stickers.

Curiosities about Purikura

Some young people are addicted to taking photos in Purikura that they even create books called Purichou [プリ帳].

Some Game Centers also rent cosplays (costumes) of maids, pirates, bunnies, and schoolgirls. In addition to wigs, cat ears, and bunny ears.

You can find Purikura starting from 200 yen. They become more expensive depending on the size of the photo and the things you do with it. It can cost from 400 to 1000 yen depending on what you want.

There are no limits on the number of people in Purikura; it is very common for groups of friends to gather to take photos together on each outing. Nowadays, there are even photo booths that print a 3D model of the person.

It was thanks to the growing phenomenon of Purikura that cell phones began to have a front camera, soon followed by editing tools, Snapchat, Instagram, and other things that allow doodling and adding effects.

Videos using Purikura

Want to know how a Purikura works in detail? Check out the videos below, in Portuguese. These are great YouTube channels that everyone should watch. Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting.