New Year and Kimono Purikura

Happy New Year everyone! Last year was a bit of a busy one for me so I’m hoping 2014 will be kinder and give me more time for fun- including this blog of course!

Interview on Beauty Hacker

In July I was interviewed by Yuka Kubo, a professor of Tokyo University of Technology, who is researching beauty related technology and innovation and runs the website Beauty Hacker (Japanese). She wanted to interview me for the website She’s also very friendly, and of course we took purikura together! Read on for a summary of the interview!

Purikura appears in a Webcomic!

I found a blog by a Japanese woman who writes a comic of her life with her family and she has two entries where she visits purikura booths.

Taking Purikura with a Baby

So during winter break one of my friends came back to town for a visit and brought her five-month-old baby. It was the first time I met him and of course we took purikura, so I thought I’d blog about how it was! Plus there’s some model gyaru mama pics later on

Purikura World Map

So this is an idea I had a while ago and just remembered it recently! I get people asking if I know of purikura in their country and I'm always very sorry that I don't, so I thought I could make a world map on Google and I'll add in places that look reputable online or that people have first-hand experience of.

 Which is where I ask if you guys know for sure of places in your countries to take purikura please let me know! You can comment here, email me, tweet me, leave a message on Facebook or Tumblr... I'm pretty reachable!
Here's the map so far. I put on some regular haunts in the bigger cities in Japan and a few of the unique machines I've discovered. I've also added the two places that I know of in California.
I'll keep working on it, so don't worry there is WAY more purikura than this if you come to Japan!
I hope this works as I've never used maps like this before! MAP UPDATED with German, Thai and Hawaiian purikura!

View Purikura Machines in a larger map

Taking Themed Purikura

This is a post for anyone whose thought about taking a set of themed purikura, like for an event  or for a TV show or movie. My friends and I do this sometimes, especially after going to see a movie together! This theme was one we’d been thinking about for a while- How I Met Your Mother purikura. (Or more accurately, Barney Stinson purikura!)

Visiting FuRyu Purikura Company

I was lucky enough to be invited to visit FuRyu purikura company in Tokyo recently!

Purikura Skin-Tone Comparisons

This is a look at how much difference the skin-tone settings make when you take purikura.

Choosing a Purikura Machine by Picture Size

Purikura machines divided into size categories to help you choose your machine. Do you want full-length? Square? Separate shots? Collages?This was a request from a little while ago.

Collection: Summer Purikura

Well, summer is well and truly here. Although I think it's less humid than last year it's still way beyond pleasant and I'm grateful for air-conditioning (though I'm trying to use it as little as possible!) Anyway summer in Japan means beaches, BBQs and firework festivals. At firework festivals girls often wear yukata and of course purikura is a must!

News: Eggnam closed!

Shibuya’s gal hangout is now closed!

A peek inside a purikura machine

OK, this might be the most random post here yet, but at the weekend as my friend and I were taking purikura the machine needed the sticker paper refilling, so I took a bunch of pictures of the guy changing the paper!

Unique Purikura Machines 2

This weekend I managed to find two unique purikura machines! You can see the two previous ones I blogged here.

History of Purikura

Ever wondered about the history of purikura? The English wiki has very little information so I had a look at some Japanese sites.

Egg Magazine Shibuya Survey

Happy New Year! Here’s my first purikura of 2012! Me Her Jyoshi…(I just noticed our names are backwards!)

A while ago Egg magazine had a survey about places to go in Shibuya and of course being a gyaru magazine, purikura and eggnam came up a few times…

Purikura Caravan

We all know about the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan last March. The region is still struggling to find its feet but the people there are carrying on as best they can. One of the purikura companies, Make Software, who make Bambi-Na, Essence and Me Her Jyoshi decided to try and bring smiles to the young people in affected areas.

Unique Purikura Machines 1

Just a quick post before I head off to Tokyo!
Some touristy places have special purikura machines made just for them. They are pretty old school and are very very basic but I think it’s nice to have purikura that you can’t take anywhere else.
I have two examples for now but I’ll add more as I find them.

Halloween Purikura

It’s Halloween tomorrow!
Japan also kind of celebrates Halloween although I’ve been told that’s just because Tokyo Disneyland has a Halloween event. Still decorations and costumes are everywhere, and what better way to record your costume than purikura? I’ve found some examples of people’s Halloween purikura and tried to work out what machines they used…

Purikura Free Gifts and Incentives

I've noticed that roughly since spring this year some purikura makers have started offering free gifts and incentives to get people to use their machines. Personally I only really care about how good the machine is and I think a lot of people feel the same way. Anyway I thought I'd do a post on the gifts and things I've seen so far...

Eggnam Purikura Centre

During Golden Week I had three days off so I went to Tokyo! While I was there there was an event at Eggnam but I was meeting a couple of friends that days and friends are more important. I still want to go to an event one day but I managed to go to Eggnam for the first time anyway.