Print Club/purikura

Do you have this where you stay? I don't ever recall hearing about it being used in Western countries, but it is insanely popular in many Asian countries.

Essentially, "Print Club" is a type of photobooth that originates from Japan. Most machines are Japanese in origin, but I've seen several of Korean make. Locally, in Singapore, it is known as "Neoprint", after the most common brand of machines here.

Machines are similar to normal photobooths but usually decorated mainly in various shades of pink. They are generally clustered in shops where the deco is, again, predominantly pink.

[Image: 4a120f2d.gif]

This is how a machine may look like, I can't find a photo of a print club shop online for some reason. This is a very old photo, I believe, as most machines now are a complete and enclosed booth for proper lighting and environment control, and all controls are done by touchscreen, rather than buttons. This one looks extremely low-tech.

Purpose of "Print Club" is very simple. It is a location mainly for teenage girls to take photos in silly poses for fun. Boys are less commonly seen in such locations except when they are the boyfriends of said girls and/or are being dragged in for fun. Still, target demographic is predominantly female, as seen from the decoration theme.

This supposedly originates from standard photobooths in japan; after taking photos together Japanese schoolgirls will write/draw on them with gel-pens. In fact, certain types of gel pen are specially designed for this purpose.

After taking photos with "Print Club", users will go to another small booth at the side to write/draw on it digitally.

[Image: yam433dd5cd16a8f-web.jpg]

The photos will be available on the screen and borders, glow effects, stamps, markers, brushes, etc. etc. will be available. Once finished, it will print out at the side as a sticker sheet. Scissors are provided at nearby tables/benches to cut it.

Sample output may look like this;
[Image: 7c420e3a.jpg]
(this is half the sheet, it's seldom done solo so the print-out is usually cut and shared)

Modern print-club booths are equipped with very good equipment. There is always extremely high-res digital camera and very good lighting within. There may be cushioned bench, poles to hang from, etc. etc., depending on the machine. Some may also have extra effects, such as mechanized automatic background changing with screens sliding up and down, or fans that blow strongly to give a "windy day" effect, etc. etc. Photos are printed on good quality glossy photo paper.

I believe the other main draw for these is the way it is run. There may be more than one camera, angle, etc. etc. and notification for the snapshot is very erratic, on purpose. It may even deliberately mislead to give a more candid shot for overall laughter. Consequently, it is very popular with teenagers in Asian regions.

In terms of price... locally, one sheet will cost S$10 which translates to about US$7 or so. If you consider the number of people who do this daily, and the number of shops/machines available... the total income is staggering.
This sounds hilariously fun.

It's too bad I've never seen any in the US. Unhappy

Not gonna lie, I'd probably end up drawing penises all over my friends. lmao
Roan Wrote:This sounds hilariously fun.

It's too bad I've never seen any in the US. Unhappy

Not gonna lie, I'd probably end up drawing penises all over my friends. lmao

xD guys don't normally go there by themselves. It's an image thing. Most guys don't really have the mood to go into an entirely pink shop unless accompanied or dragged in by a girl.

But yes, it is actually hilariously fun. I tend to go a bit crazy on adding effects.
The pink factor is probably what's keeping this from coming to the US, where the male ego and image is a bit more... Aggressive? lol
Roan Wrote:The pink factor is probably what's keeping this from coming to the US, where the male ego and image is a bit more... Aggressive? lol

I see... but it's targetted towards the female demographic. There are no males used for advertising purposes; all promotional material feature cute japanese girls. I suspect American girls may have a very different mindset than Japanese/Asian girls, although I'm not sure on this.
Depending on where you go, there are purikura machines over here too. I haven't seen any in the Seattle area (sadly), but they tend to be in arcades in Chinatown of cities. The last place I saw that had them was an arcade in West Edmonton Mall, but that place has everything. XD
ultima55 Wrote:Depending on where you go, there are purikura machines over here too. I haven't seen any in the Seattle area (sadly), but they tend to be in arcades in Chinatown of cities. The last place I saw that had them was an arcade in West Edmonton Mall, but that place has everything. XD

Hmm that would make sense. Are they popular?
I've seen crappy versions of these at the malls and stuff, but yeah, you can't like add all of those goodies to the pictures Uncertain
G Wrote:I've seen crappy versions of these at the malls and stuff, but yeah, you can't like add all of those goodies to the pictures Uncertain

What has Bush done to America Pinching_eyes
yo i live in edmonton the last place that had sticky photobooths just shut down its called "circuit circus" it was located inside west edmonton mall (wem) i just a girl friend and i wanted to take one with her, right now theres no discovery of sticky photo zones in edmonton so any one who lives in edmonton and has recieved any news about this plz contact me asap thanksTired
No idea where Edmonton is......why did you resurrect such an old thread? D=
Ah well. Go to wherever your local Chinese district is. They'll prolly have them there.
(Feb. 17, 2009  2:42 PM)Rocky Wrote: No idea where Edmonton is......why did you resurrect such an old thread? D=
Ah well. Go to wherever your local Chinese district is. They'll prolly have them there.

its in Western Canada in the province of Alberta. Also I remember seeing a ton of these when I went to Japan in April 2007.
You went to Japan>>
Jealous now, try and go again soon, and bring back MFB ^^
(Feb. 17, 2009  2:42 PM)Rocky Wrote: No idea where Edmonton is......why did you resurrect such an old thread? D=
Ah well. Go to wherever your local Chinese district is. They'll prolly have them there.

Winkhaha long story i was actually looking for possible arcades with these sticky photo booths but the last arcade in town got shut down and plus being the eldest of a typical chinese household i know that there are absolutely none in chinatown i visit there every time we have to get groceries which is like twice a week Tongue_out_wink
(Feb. 17, 2009  3:25 PM)Giga Wrote: You went to Japan>>
Jealous now, try and go again soon, and bring back MFB ^^

I went in April 2007 with my International Business Class (twas my high school graduation present). This was during my Bey Hiatus so I had no intention of picking stuff up. However I do plan on saving up cash and going again for a week or two in 2011 once I graduate. To heck with the traditional Eurotrip, I shall try something different.
(Feb. 19, 2009  12:57 AM)Arjun Wrote:
(Feb. 17, 2009  3:25 PM)Giga Wrote: You went to Japan>>
Jealous now, try and go again soon, and bring back MFB ^^

I went in April 2007 with my International Business Class (twas my high school graduation present). This was during my Bey Hiatus so I had no intention of picking stuff up. However I do plan on saving up cash and going again for a week or two in 2011 once I graduate. To heck with the traditional Eurotrip, I shall try something different.

Purikura. Good Times. Me and some of my friends were super into it at one time. Joyful_2