The humble photo booth is still loved: forget the selfie, purikura remains popular with Japanese women, 25 years after its debut

The popularity of photo booths peaked in 1997, but they remain loved by teenage girls and young women in Japan for their professional equipment and lighting

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, industry experts say customers are returning to take pictures ‘much faster than we’d expected’

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Purikura photo booths remain popular with Japanese women, despite the rise of smartphone selfies. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:15pm, 4 Aug 2020Updated: 7:15pm, 4 Aug 2020

A pair of Japanese schoolgirls primp their hair before a long mirror, preparing for the perfect shot. But they are not taking a smartphone selfie, they are using a “purikura” photo booth.

Old-style photo booths have staged something of a comeback in parts of the world in recent years, for their nostalgic value in the smartphone era. But the purikura – an abbreviation of the Japanese pronunciation of “print club” – offers much more than a simple strip of passport photos.

Featuring a dizzying array of retouches, enhancements and adornments, they remain hugely popular 25 years after they debuted in Japan, particularly with teenage girls and young women enamoured of their “kawaii”, or cute, output.

And despite the competition from smartphones and increasingly sophisticated retouching apps, at least one Japanese firm is banking on the purikura’s enduring appeal and rolling out a new model this year.

Print club photo booths became a popular feature at Japanese gaming arcades in the late 1990s – and remain popular now. Photo: AFP

Nonoka Yamada, 17, has been a purikura fan for almost a decade, and says she and friends use them several times a week.