Purikura

プリクラ (purikura) are a type of photo booth they have in Japan:

They over-the-top, seizure-inducing, boxes brimming with 可愛い (かわいい // kawaii).

And I highly recommend using one at least once in your life.

There are a lot of benefits to doing purikura.

Benefit #1: You get to look super 可愛い.

...or super scary, I suppose. I'm not really sure what to call it.

↑ That photo is of me and some former coworkers. As far as purikura goes, I'd say it's a pretty mellow photo. In extreme examples you'll come out looking like an entirely different person.

How you look is primarily decided by the setting you choose before taking your photos, and the edits you do after:

Maybe some of these have an English option nowadays―I'm not sure―but I've never encountered one with multiple languages.

Instead, you're presented with what may be a rather overwhelming array of options.

For this reason, I recommend bringing along a Japanese person if at all possible. Even if you can read Japanese pretty well, if you don't have a cell phone plan with a Japanese provider (thus providing you with a provider-specific email address for your phone), you may not be able to receive digital copies of your wacky photos.

Even if you do have a Japanese phone and speak Japanese, the photo booths don't give you very much time to fill out your email address, make edits to your photos, or do anything, really. It's a rush job.

For some reason, I always end up with tiny little photos:

↑ This place let you wear some free costumes for the photos, which is why I look so, uh, stylish and am hanging out with spider-man.

If possible, it would be best to go with a girl in your group, since a lot of these places have been banning male-only groups lately:


(Photo from Twitter)


男性のみのお客様のご入場はご遠慮ください。
だんせい のみ の おきゃくさま の ごにゅうじょう は ごえんりょ ください。
Please do not enter if you are a male customer without a female present.
Literally: “male + only + の + customer + の + entrance + は + refraining + please.”

Apparently, some male creepers ruined it for the rest of us. *_*


You can find プリクラ at game arcades across Japan. One popular such establishment is Taito Station:

The multi-level arcades in central areas of Tokyo usually have an entire floor―or at least an entire section of a floor―dedicated to プリクラ booths.

So just keep taking the escalators up until you find the photo booths. Two of the best ones that I've been to are in Shinjuku (take the east exit and head toward Kabukicho) and Akihabara.

I took a couple of friends that were visiting to the one in Akihabara, and we produced these masterpieces:

It doesn't cost much to get the photos, so you might as well give it a shot, yeah?

Some more articles about Purikura:
- Everything You Need To Know About Japan's Amazing Photo Booths
- Purikura: The Joy of Japanese Photo Booths
- “Purikura”: Photos with Friends


Useful Japanese:


この辺にプリクラ撮れるゲームセンターありますか?
この へん に プリクラ とれる ゲームセンター あります か?
Are there any game centers around here where you can take purikura photos?
Literally: “this + area + に + purikura + can take + game center + there is + か?”


2軒目いく前にプリクラ撮ろう!
にけんめ いく まえ に プリクラ とろう!
Let’s go take purikura before we go to the next place!
Literally: “second place (while out drinking with friends) + go + before + に + purikura + let’s take!”


ゲームセンターに行ってみたいです。
ゲームセンター に いってみたい です。
I’d like to go to a game center.
Literally: “game center + に + would like to go (=go [and] + want to see) + です.”

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