VOL.208 OCTOBER 2025
KAWAII CULTURE FROM JAPAN
Capture Kawaii Memories with Purikura®
The latest feature allows photos with frames.
Photo: SEGA CORPORATION
One of the icons of Japan’s kawaii culture is the photo sticker booth, or purikura. Its novelty—allowing photos to be printed as stickers on the spot—made it a hit, spreading among high school girls in the 1990s. We spoke with a representative from a purikura manufacturer to learn more.
In 1995, SEGA1 and ATLUS2 jointly developed and released Print Club®, which quickly became a social phenomenon among high school girls, who called it Purikura® (abbreviated as Puri). FUJIKI Toshiyuki of SEGA CORPORATION’s Public Relations Department recalls the early days of development:
“The idea originated with an employee who found it inconvenient that photos taken with the popular disposable cameras with lenses couldn’t be seen immediately. They were inspired by a video printer that could print photos from images, which led to the initial concept. The concept of printing photos on the spot as stickers quickly gained attention within the company, leading to the product’s launch. By deliberately keeping the resolution low, the resulting images made skin look smooth and black hair appear soft—an effect that captured the hearts of high school girls who love all things kawaii.”
Photo: SEGA CORPORATION
Photo: FURYU CORPORATION
Installed mainly in amusement facilities in entertainment districts and shopping streets, purikura booths were easy to enjoy, which helped them gain popularity among young people. By 1997, cumulative shipments had reached around 22,000 units. In 1998, a version that could capture full-body shots was introduced, followed by models aligned with the bihaku3 (skin-whitening) trend in 1999. With features evolving alongside trends—and the buzz around moreru (a popular term meaning photos make you look cuter than in real life)—purikura became a major hit.
“Purikura booths have offered a variety of values—making photos look kawaii, providing fun, creating lasting memories, and strengthening friendships—and have earned widespread support,” says FUJIKI. “They have become more than just a way to take pictures; they have established themselves as a space for expressing each person’s sense of kawaii.”
New features continued to be developed year after year. By the early 2000s, with the advent of camera-equipped mobile phones, the doodle function—which allows users to decorate photos with colorful pens and stamps—became a standard feature, adding even more playful elements to the experience.
“The emergence of a way to collect and display purikura stickers in notebooks or planners—known as puricho—helped boost their popularity. Exchanging stickers and sharing them became a part of everyday communication among high school girls, cementing purikura as a key social item.”
Photo: FURYU CORPORATION
Over the years, purikura has continued to evolve in both the way photos look and its features to match the trends of each generation of teens. With the spread of mobile phones and social media, purikura photos can now be digitized, customized by individual facial features, color-adjusted, and even retouched4 to make not just the face but the whole body appear slimmer. These enhancements have greatly diversified the functionality of purikura booths.
Photo: FURYU CORPORATION
“In recent years, purikura booths have moved beyond simply making photos look kawaii and moreru to focus on the overall photo-taking experience itself. For example, some booths now display pose guides on the screen, allow friends to add doodles or stamps after shooting, and incorporate features that make the waiting time for photo processing more enjoyable. While the way photos look and the ways people enjoy them have changed over time, their purpose has remained largely the same even in 2025,” says FUJIKI.
Purikura booths exist overseas as well, but there, decorating the printed sheets or collaborations with popular characters is more common.
“Many travelers visiting Japan from abroad tend to prefer booths that dramatically distort the face in photos,” FUJIKI explains. “While Japanese users mainly react with comments like ‘It looks cute’ or ‘That was fun,’ overseas visitors seem to enjoy watching their faces dramatically distorted and having fun with each other during the photo session. Purikura is recognized as a part of Japan’s kawaii culture, and completed stickers are often taken home as souvenirs.”
In 2025, Purikura® celebrates its 30th anniversary, yet its original appeal—capturing memories while enjoying the novelty and fun of the experience—remains just as popular today.
* Print Club® and Purikura® are registered trademarks of SEGA CORPORATION.
- 1. A company that develops and sells consumer and social games. Development of the latest Purikura® machines is currently handled by SEGA’s wholly owned subsidiary, SEGA FAVE CORPORATION.
- 2. A game developer responsible for planning and developing games and other content. It is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of SEGA.
- 3. A beauty concept aiming for clear, even-toned, bright white skin.
- 4. The process of editing photos after shooting using image-editing software to adjust them to one’s preferred appearance.
By TANAKA Nozomi
Photo: SEGA CORPORATION; FURYU CORPORATION