Trends in Japan - CScout Japan Blog » Purikura print club for solo photo shoots

Purikura print club for solo photo shoots

Written by: Rebecca Milner on September 5, 2008 at 3:41 am | In Fashion & Lifestyle Trends, Technology & Gadget Trends |

Furyu, maker of popular purikura (print club) machines with names like “Miss Doll” and “Funky High,” has announced a new addition to its successful “Queen of Pink” line-up. While print club is generally considered a activity for friends, done mostly by groups of school age girls, the new Queen of Pink 2 has a function designed for solo photo shoots.

Why would you want to do this by yourself, you ask? In order to practice cute poses of course, especially, according to the press release, for perfecting a look for your Mixi (popular local SNS) profile.

There are four new frame options: pictured above, queen (for a glamorous self-portrait) and below from left to right, message (for penciling in and attaching to a letter or gift), self-introduction (in mock SNS profile form), and “nico-ichi” (pairs you with a cute character).

The cult of an individual personality that the SNS profile encourages, even within an inherently social setting, can be seen here to be influencing a traditionally group activity. With over 10 million users on Mixi, this is definitely a development worth keeping tabs on. We’ll have an eye out for other examples, but in the meantime, here are some more examples of “social” print club.

Print club machines are constantly undergoing renewal to reflect current trends, like those pictured above in pop and ethnic themes that matched popular summer fashion looks.