The Japanese Phenomena of Purikura

プリクラ, or purikura, are pictures made in a sticker photo booth and is very popular in Japan. More often than not, you will see friends taking pictures and decorating them together. Purikura is a very important part of the Japanese youth's social life. After a long hard day at school, there is nothing better then going to the arcade with your friends and taking purikura together to decorate ones phone with.

Just last year while I was abroad in Japan, I did purikura almost 2-3 times a week. It's a fun and cheap activity. Many places have also began to have "cosplay purikura" in which you can pay 100 yen (around $1.50) to choose any outfit or costume of your choice and wear it for your photo session. Along with adding revenue to the arcade, it allows the customers to feel like a true model with their very own photo shoot.

 

As you can see in the above images, there are a fair amount of additional decorations and writings that are added to the images.  This is the second step to purikura, and probably the most fun part.  You can also choose to have the images printed on regular paper, sticker paper, or email it to yourself.   

While many pictures in purikura can be cute, there are also plenty of odd looking pictures that can come out of it.

Here is a video about just how much editing is involved in purikura. 

**This is an edited repost of February 16's post. The pictures are now visible**