Purikura

These photobooths are extremely popular in Japan; many arcades have entire floors dedicated to these machines. Sometimes wigs and other cosplay items, to be used in the machines, are available for rent for any interested people. The machines themselves are much larger than a typical American photobooth and offer many more options. A typical booth is large enough to hold up to eight people, and some are even larger. They typically cost between 300 and 600 yen per session. Once the money is inserted, between two to ten different pictures can be taken. A common pose being some form of the peace hand sign, or other gesture. Once the pictures are taken, the occupants select those that they wish to keep and print using a touch sensitive screen or pen-sensitive screen. The pictures can then be decorated on the screen with a vast array of virtual stamps, borders, and text.

During this process, J-Pop music is often played and a high-pitched female voice walks the occupants through the procedure and gives such orders as, "Uan, Tsu, Surii, Pouzu," (The Japanese pronunciation of the borrowed English words "One, Two, Three, Pose," ) Finally, the amount and size of the pictures to be printed is chosen, and after about a minute they are printed out, in glossy full color sheets, to be cut up and split among the group. Generally, the back side can be peeled off, so the photos serve as stickers as well.

There are many variations on the typical booth. Some take pictures from many different angles within the booth, while others print the pictures on special paper, some booths have different backgrounds that can be pulled down, are decorated with items such as a fake log, use various different lights, or the booth might let you superimpose trademarked images such as Hello Kitty on your picture.

Purikura is generally used by teenagers, especially girls, but not exclusively. Many young girls carry around books of purikura photos to show to and trade with their friends.

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