Purikura

Purikura is a fun popular gimmick in Japan. I just love saying the word and have quickly become addicted to it. It is where you go with your friends and pose for the camera in a not so little booth. You get to take a variety of pictures which are put onto different backgrounds like riding a bike etc…. once all the photographs have been taken you head into another booth where you can decorate you photos with all sorts of cute little pictures. You can write on the photos, add pictures, borders and all sorts of cool little things. Once you are done they get printed out. Now, all the instructions are in Japanese of course so it’s difficult for us to understand what we are doing. We haven’t quite mastered purikura yet but I am very keen to keep trying until I get it right.

The first time we did it we had just met some kids on the street and they took us there. There were about 10 of us in the booth at once – it was so much fun. They knew exactly what to do but we had just come from the sake tour so I was in no state to remember the steps. The second time it was the girls having a go, the third time is was just Marie and I – we didn’t get hardly any of them finished because we ran out of time. The next time it was Steve, Marie and me. We got better but still haven’t quite worked it out. Everyone time I walk past one I want to give it a go. They are so much fun, very corny but cute. If you come to Japan you must try ‘purikura’. (I just wanted to say the word one more time!)