Last week, we saw a group of four girls huddled in a photo booth. Only in Japan, this is no ordinary photo booth like you might find in the states with boring passport head shots.
Known as Purikura, they are wildly popular here for lots of extra custom features. You can choose different background scenes like the beach or movie theater or even a busy subway car. You can draw on them with a virtual pen, and best of all, you can make them into stickers...and who doesn't love stickers?
For my new challenge today, I took some pictures inside a Purikura booth, AND it was definitely a challenge. A woman's voice in Japanese guides you through the whole complicated thing, and there are all buttons and pens and screens and timers and flashes. I have to admit I was completely perplexed and resorted to pushing random things inside there.
Somehow I ended up with this:
Have you ever done a Purikura? I wish I had known about these booths when I was 14...
6 comments:
My friend Julia (who just left the island...boohoo) is a Purikura expert, only she just calls them sticky pics. Through trial and error, she learned how to work the machine like a pro...but she was also here for 6 years. We had tons of fun with her and now I wish I would have paid more attention!
Purikura is on my list of top ten reasons I'd return to Japan.
Snag some high school kid and beg them to help you. Only adds to the wackiness of it all.
We have those kinds of photo booth in Thailand as well. It was widely popular but I'm not sure about now. The most popular thing is we can make a sticker photo. Then we will put them on our book and start exchange stickers with friends. :)
Carrie,
Maybe you and I can follow Meredith's advice (see comments) and invite a middle school girl to help us create our own Purikura. I want to do "candy girls" next time...
Amy,
Thanks for stopping by! Let's exchange purikura stickers! I haven't had a sticker book since grade school...
Mary,
DEAL! Let's do it! I'll bring along my highschool boys...they are always looking to meet cute Japanese school girls. (Wait...why am I encouraging that behavior?)
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