Tokyo, Japan

Japanese Style Passaport-Type Photography


Purikura among friends
Group of colleagues photographed in a Purikura studio in Shibuya.
Purikura cabin interior
Flash lights from a Purikura cabin.
Purikura Machine
Panel of a Purikura machine.
Album of memories
Mini photographs left by clients from a Purikura studio in Shibuya.
Customer uses Purikura-Shibuya-Tokyo-Japan machine
Customer uses a Purikura machine housed in an elegant cabin.
Tokyo night
Passersby walk along a street lined with illuminated billboards.
A Brown Client
Clients wait their turn at a Purikura studio in Shibuya, Japan.
hidden magic
Detail of a Purikura cabin panel.
The Magic Pen
Young client retouching a photograph just taken in a Purikura studio.
Skirt Purikura
Customers have fun in their Purikura booths.
Private Session
Customer uses a Purikura machine with privacy ensured by a bright cabin.
Preparations
Customer puts on make-up before entering a Purikura house in Shibuya.
Example poster
A promotional poster for Purikura, featuring young photogenic models.
Purikura Sharing
Two friends share purikura photos from mobile to mobile.
Creativity 2
Couple of lovers illustrates an image of both at their pleasure.
vivid beauty
Another inspiring poster decorates a Shibuya Purikura studio.
In the late 80s, two Japanese multinationals already saw conventional photo booths as museum pieces. They turned them into revolutionary machines and Japan surrendered to the Purikura phenomenon.

The fur coat, the black ankle boots high above the knee and the miniature denim shorts are not faithful to the looks recommended inside the studio, but nothing seems to demotivate the young gyaru.

The corner of Shibuya's busy street is far from granting her any privacy, but as she hastily fiddles with her mascara brush, only her reflection in the small mirror and the volume of her long eyelashes seem to count.

A suitcase already tagged suggests that the teenager is about to travel and that she wants to take with her a narcissistic memory of recent times in Tokyo.

Make-up client, Purikura, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Customer puts on make-up before entering a Purikura house in Shibuya.

Inside, the store is as busy as it is colorful. It's the third time we've been there. Right in the first one, we were made clear that we could not photograph neither the other customers nor with professional cameras.

The prohibition forces us to play a complicated game of cat and mouse with the employee on duty, in the labyrinth of the cabins he supervises.

Curtains decorated with flowers and images of friends with immaculate skins, large almost Western eyes, glossy cashew or golden hair and bright smiles close the spaces of the devices to the users' imagination or capacity to imitate.

Many are not begging and are inspired by those looks that the creators christened in Japanese but with semi-precious complements in English: Pink Eye, Jewel is Saphire, Jewella, among others.

Saphire Cabin, Purikura, Tokyo, Japan

Customer uses a Purikura machine housed in an elegant cabin.

Entering the required 500 or 600 yen in the slot, customers rush into the booth's photo area, assume the freshest poses and expressions they can remember.

They await the end of the count Uan, tsū, surii, pōzu (adapted from English – One, two, three, Pose) enunciated by video-hostesses with female and youth voices and allow themselves to be frozen by the powerful flashes.

Group Photo, Purikura, Japan

Group of colleagues photographed in a Purikura studio in Shibuya.

In any conventional photo booth, the experience would end here, but Japanese technology tried to enrich it and then monetize it.

We walked the corridors between the cabins and, through the half-open curtains, we noticed the enthusiasm of groups of friends and couples who, against the clock, decorate their images with little stars, hearts, flowers, rainbows and other myriad symbols and effects that digital pens and complex screen menus allow them to combine.

Couple retouch Purikura, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Couple of lovers illustrates an image of both at their pleasure.

The Ignored Genius Idea

This was the vision that Sasaki Miho had and that he transmitted to the company he worked for – Atlus, creator of computer games – allowing him to develop, in partnership with the famous SEGA, the revolutionary Purikura devices.

Miho was inspired by the Japanese youth hobby of decorating the covers of school books, backpacks, lockers, cell phones and everything else with popular Japanese figurines and remembered that the habit could be transposed to electronic format.

Strangely enough now, when the first models of the strange machines appeared on the market in 1995, they aroused little interest.

Purikura poster, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

A promotional poster for Purikura, featuring young photogenic models.

Finally, the Japanese Phenomenon of Purikura Photography

But a few years of persistence later, J-Pop (read Japanese pop) band SMAP offered pictures of themselves produced in Purikura, live on a television show, and set the tone.

The idea was not long in being copied by other music groups and personalities. And the fashion for producing, trading and collecting these fun photos quickly spread among teenage girls.

As of spring 1998, there were around 25.000 cabins across the country and many imitations. Other opportunistic entrepreneurs were installing, in the vicinity, houses with cosplay suits (custom play), hair and other accessories, an idea that, however, some Purikura studios came to assimilate.

Thus, the concept of a Japanese Print Club was popularized, which the younger people converted first to a gairaigo (transliteration) almost mandatory, "kurabhu purinto” and then shortened it to Purikura.

Much More than Just Pass Photos

Purikura materialization is optional. We see history repeating itself, in Shibuya stores and in many others across the rest of the country.

Pictures Purikura, Japan

Mini photographs left by clients from a Purikura studio in Shibuya.

Coming from design machines – let's call them that – users decide whether to receive the final image on glossy paper contact sheets or, through a system similar to Bluetooth, directly to the screens of their mobile phones, tablets and company. last generation.

As we could see, first choice requires some scissors work, to separate the strips or individual images that can come out of different sizes. The latter proves to be more practical and allows easy and immediate copying and resending as MMS or emails.

Friends pass photos-Purikura, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Two friends share purikura photos from mobile to mobile.

As long as the flow of customers is high, any of the machines and modalities is highly profitable.

Accordingly, we find purikuras throughout urban Japan and even in some more rural corners, both in gaming machines and in their own studios where the quantity and variety increases and the decoration, from the facade of the establishment to the exit door, it is entirely dedicated to them.

Once Purikura's photographic base became commonplace, ambitious developments were launched on the market, with an obvious exponent in the so-called Videkura, machines that allow the creation and sending of short videos via the mobile phone network or the Internet.

Different companies have chosen to attract different target audiences with concepts that are attractive to them. Love & Berry bet on love relationships, the Mushi King and Naruto allow martial arts aficionados to show off their most impressive combat moves.

Photo booth, Purikura, Japan

Flash lights from a Purikura cabin.

Another, created by the Ututu company, chose the name MYSQ – My Style So Qute and seems doomed to success by challenging users to produce videos of different styles using special effects and music.

Purikura's Technological Innovation and International Expansion

As is to be expected, neither the original invention nor these developments are limited to Japan. It was discovered a few years ago that Taipei, capital of Taiwan and attentive imitator of Japanese novelties, it was already the city with the highest number of machines per capita.

In Ximen – its Shibuya – there is even a three-story building equipped with dozens of state-of-the-art Purikura.

In mainland China, the most common is to have old models, in gaming houses or small stores. Bangkok and Manila are also regular customers while in Australia – where the Japanese, Chinese and Korean population is constantly increasing – and in some Western countries, machines are almost always available in small numbers.

During an excursion in which we take part by the Red Center Outback e Northern Territory, the successive games with digital cameras bring the purikura theme to the conversation.

Yummi, one of several Japanese passenger passengers, reacts immediately, at the same time excited and embarrassed about the role she is about to assume: “I have !! look here, so many !!!”. And he takes out his wallet and a PDA to show us his extensive collection.

In Japan, any passerby up to the age of forty is a potential Purikura user, but some are more than others. Groups of fellow teenagers on their way to or from school in their uniforms of coat, dark pullover and short skirt with socks just below the knee proved to be the perfect customers.

Purikura Booths, Tokyo, Japan

Customers have fun in their Purikura booths.

Soon after, there are the exuberant friends a little older who have freed themselves from this dictatorial phase of life and dedicate most of their time to beautifying themselves in order to refine their identity.

For many girls and women, the purikura function as yet another extension of this fragrant search for meaning and they are the main reason for the phenomenon's existence.

On an afternoon of fun, each can spend up to 4000 yen (40€). We even saw long lines in front of some new or more popular machines.

Customers in Purikura, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo teenager await their turn in a Purikura studio in Shibuya, Japan.

But certain behavioral deviations around the phenomenon challenged the established harmony of the hypocritical Japanese society. The problem became more serious when certain men began visiting homes with the aim of seducing and hooking up teenagers.

And it got worse when some of these teenagers started to leave pictures of them with phone numbers, offering to make new friends or enjo kosai, as they are called in Japan, financially assisted relationships.

Beauty Vivid-Purikura poster, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Another inspiring poster decorates a Shibuya Purikura studio.

The reaction to the scandal emerged in a short time, with the ban on entry of men into Purikura's houses if they were not accompanied by friends or girlfriends and the installation of cabins for single use by couples.

This restriction was expected. We are talking about a nation with Spartan customs and seemingly immaculate morals where people almost never touch one another, or show affection, in public.

From Purikura to Videkura

The sending of images to mobile phones has become banal (from where they can be sent to other mobile phones or devices as MMS or e-mails), ambitious developments were recently launched on the market, with an obvious exponent in the Videkura calls.

As the name implies, these machines allow you to create short videos and send them via the mobile phone network or the Internet.

Purikura Panel, Tokyo, Japan

Panel of a Purikura machine.

In the emperor's realm, any revolutionary prototype quickly becomes technological junk or, with any luck, a museum piece.

Despite the permanent modernization to which they are subject, Purikura continue to deserve the respect due from their fans. After all, these prodigious cabins have been part of their lives for ten years.

And they make life in Japan happier.

Tokyo, Japan

Pachinko: The Video - Addiction That Depresses Japan

It started as a toy, but the Japanese appetite for profit quickly turned pachinko into a national obsession. Today, there are 30 million Japanese surrendered to these alienating gaming machines.
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Tokyo, Japan

The Endless Night of the Rising Sun Capital

Say that Tokyo do not sleep is an understatement. In one of the largest and most sophisticated cities on the face of the Earth, twilight marks only the renewal of the frenetic daily life. And there are millions of souls that either find no place in the sun, or make more sense in the “dark” and obscure turns that follow.
Tokyo, Japan

Disposable Purrs

Tokyo is the largest of the metropolises but, in its tiny apartments, there is no place for pets. Japanese entrepreneurs detected the gap and launched "catteries" in which the feline affections are paid by the hour.
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's fashion

In ultra-populous and hyper-coded Japan, there is always room for more sophistication and creativity. Whether national or imported, it is in the capital that they begin to parade the new Japanese looks.
Tokyo, Japan

The Emperor Without Empire

After the capitulation in World War II, Japan underwent a constitution that ended one of the longest empires in history. The Japanese emperor is, today, the only monarch to reign without empire.
Tokyo, Japan

The Fish Market That Lost its Freshness

In a year, each Japanese eats more than their weight in fish and shellfish. Since 1935, a considerable part was processed and sold in the largest fish market in the world. Tsukiji was terminated in October 2018, and replaced by Toyosu's.
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's Hypno-Passengers

Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.
Kyoto, Japan

Survival: The Last Geisha Art

There have been almost 100 but times have changed and geishas are on the brink of extinction. Today, the few that remain are forced to give in to Japan's less subtle and elegant modernity.
Takayama, Japan

From the Ancient Japan to the Medieval Hida

In three of its streets, Takayama retains traditional wooden architecture and concentrates old shops and sake producers. Around it, it approaches 100.000 inhabitants and surrenders to modernity.
Longsheng, China

Huang Luo: the Chinese Village of the Longest Hairs

In a multi-ethnic region covered with terraced rice paddies, the women of Huang Luo have surrendered to the same hairy obsession. They let the longest hair in the world grow, years on end, to an average length of 170 to 200 cm. Oddly enough, to keep them beautiful and shiny, they only use water and rice.
Natural Light (Part 2)

One Sun, So Many Lights

Most travel photos are taken in sunlight. Sunlight and weather form a capricious interaction. Learn how to predict, detect and use at its best.
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Okinawa, Japan

Ryukyu Dances: Centuries old. In No Hurry.

The Ryukyu kingdom prospered until the XNUMXth century as a trading post for the China and Japan. From the cultural aesthetics developed by its courtly aristocracy, several styles of slow dance were counted.
Miyajima, Japan

Shintoism and Buddhism with the Tide

Visitors to the Tori of Itsukushima admire one of the three most revered scenery in Japan. On the island of Miyajima, Japanese religiosity blends with Nature and is renewed with the flow of the Seto Inland Sea.
Iriomote, Japan

The Small Tropical Japanese Amazon of Iriomote

Impenetrable rainforests and mangroves fill Iriomote under a pressure cooker climate. Here, foreign visitors are as rare as the yamaneko, an elusive endemic lynx.
Nikko, Japan

The Tokugawa Shogun Final Procession

In 1600, Ieyasu Tokugawa inaugurated a shogunate that united Japan for 250 years. In her honor, Nikko re-enacts the general's medieval relocation to Toshogu's grandiose mausoleum every year.
Nara, Japan

The Colossal Cradle of the Japanese Buddhism

Nara has long since ceased to be the capital and its Todai-ji temple has been demoted. But the Great Hall remains the largest ancient wooden building in the world. And it houses the greatest bronze Vairocana Buddha.
Okinawa, Japan

The Little Empire of the Sun

Risen from the devastation caused by World War II, Okinawa has regained the heritage of its secular Ryukyu civilization. Today, this archipelago south of Kyushu is home to a Japan on the shore, anchored by a turquoise Pacific ocean and bathed in a peculiar Japanese tropicalism.
Kyoto, Japan

An Almost Lost Millennial Japan

Kyoto was on the US atomic bomb target list and it was more than a whim of fate that preserved it. Saved by an American Secretary of War in love with its historical and cultural richness and oriental sumptuousness, the city was replaced at the last minute by Nagasaki in the atrocious sacrifice of the second nuclear cataclysm.
Esteros del Iberá, Pantanal Argentina, Alligator
Safari
Iberá Wetlands, Argentina

The Pantanal of the Pampas

On the world map, south of the famous brazilian wetland, a little-known flooded region appears, but almost as vast and rich in biodiversity. the Guarani expression Y bera defines it as “shining waters”. The adjective fits more than its strong luminance.
Aurora lights up the Pisang Valley, Nepal.
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 3rd- Upper Banana, Nepal

An Unexpected Snowy Aurora

At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
Treasures, Las Vegas, Nevada, City of Sin and Forgiveness
Architecture & Design
Las Vegas, USA

Where sin is always forgiven

Projected from the Mojave Desert like a neon mirage, the North American capital of gaming and entertainment is experienced as a gamble in the dark. Lush and addictive, Vegas neither learns nor regrets.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Adventure
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
Conflicted Way
Ceremonies and Festivities
Jerusalem, Israel

Through the Belicious Streets of Via Dolorosa

In Jerusalem, while traveling the Via Dolorosa, the most sensitive believers realize how difficult the peace of the Lord is to achieve in the most disputed streets on the face of the earth.
Hué, Communist City, Imperial Vietnam, Imperial Communism
Cities
Hue, Vietnam

The Red Heritage of Imperial Vietnam

It suffered the worst hardships of the Vietnam War and was despised by the Vietcong due to the feudal past. The national-communist flags fly over its walls but Hué regains its splendor.
young saleswoman, nation, bread, uzbekistan
Meal
Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, The Nation That Does Not Lack Bread

Few countries employ cereals like Uzbekistan. In this republic of Central Asia, bread plays a vital and social role. The Uzbeks produce it and consume it with devotion and in abundance.
Jingkieng Wahsurah, Nongblai Village Roots Bridge, Meghalaya, India
Culture
Meghalaya, India

The Bridges of the Peoples that Create Roots

The unpredictability of rivers in the wettest region on Earth never deterred the Khasi and the Jaintia. Faced with the abundance of trees elastic fig tree in their valleys, these ethnic groups got used to molding their branches and strains. From their time-lost tradition, they have bequeathed hundreds of dazzling root bridges to future generations.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Sport
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
Martian Scenery of the White Desert, Egypt
Traveling
White Desert, Egypt

The Egyptian Shortcut to Mars

At a time when conquering the solar system's neighbor has become an obsession, an eastern section of the Sahara Desert is home to a vast related landscape. Instead of the estimated 150 to 300 days to reach Mars, we took off from Cairo and, in just over three hours, we took our first steps into the Oasis of Bahariya. All around, almost everything makes us feel about the longed-for Red Planet.
Tabatô, Guinea Bissau, tabanca Mandingo musicians. Baidi
Ethnic
Tabato, Guinea Bissau

The Tabanca of Mandinga Poets Musicians

In 1870, a community of traveling Mandingo musicians settled next to the current city of Bafatá. From the Tabatô they founded, their culture and, in particular, their prodigious balaphonists, dazzle the world.
Portfolio, Got2Globe, Best Images, Photography, Images, Cleopatra, Dioscorides, Delos, Greece
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

The Earthly and the Celestial

shadow vs light
History
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Tobago, Pigeon Point, Scarborough, Pontoon
Islands
Scarborough a Pigeon Point, Tobago

Probing the Capital Tobago

From the walled heights of Fort King George, to the threshold of Pigeon Point, southwest Tobago around the capital Scarborough reveals unrivaled controversial tropics.
Northern Lights, Laponia, Rovaniemi, Finland, Fire Fox
Winter White
Lapland, Finland

In Search of the Fire Fox

Unique to the heights of the Earth are the northern or southern auroras, light phenomena generated by solar explosions. You Sami natives from Lapland they believed it to be a fiery fox that spread sparkles in the sky. Whatever they are, not even the nearly 30 degrees below zero that were felt in the far north of Finland could deter us from admiring them.
Cove, Big Sur, California, United States
Literature
Big Sur, USA

The Coast of All Refuges

Over 150km, the Californian coast is subjected to a vastness of mountains, ocean and fog. In this epic setting, hundreds of tormented souls follow in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and Henri Miller.
Porto Santo, view to the south of Pico Branco
Nature
Terra Chã and Pico Branco footpaths, Porto Santo

Pico Branco, Terra Chã and Other Whims of the Golden Island

In its northeast corner, Porto Santo is another thing. With its back facing south and its large beach, we unveil a mountainous, rugged and even wooded coastline, dotted with islets that dot an even bluer Atlantic.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Cumbre Vieja, La Palma, Eruption, Tsunami, A Televisioned Apocalypse
Natural Parks
La Palma, Canary IslandsSpain (España)

The Most Mediatic of the Cataclysms to Happen

The BBC reported that the collapse of a volcanic slope on the island of La Palma could generate a mega-tsunami. Whenever the area's volcanic activity increases, the media take the opportunity to scare the world.
One against all, Sera Monastery, Sacred Debate, Tibet
UNESCO World Heritage
Lhasa, Tibet

Sera, the Monastery of the Sacred Debate

In few places in the world a dialect is used as vehemently as in the monastery of Sera. There, hundreds of monks, in Tibetan, engage in intense and raucous debates about the teachings of the Buddha.
Characters
Look-alikes, Actors and Extras

Make-believe stars

They are the protagonists of events or are street entrepreneurs. They embody unavoidable characters, represent social classes or epochs. Even miles from Hollywood, without them, the world would be more dull.
Daytona Beach Portico, most famous beach of the year, Florida
Beaches
Daytona Beach, Florida, United States

The so-called World's Most Famous Beach

If its notoriety comes mainly from NASCAR races, in Daytona Beach, we find a peculiar seaside resort and a vast and compact beach that, in times past, was used for car speed tests.
Detail of the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, Assam, India.
Religion
Guwahati, India

The City that Worships Kamakhya and the Fertility

Guwahati is the largest city in the state of Assam and in North East India. It is also one of the fastest growing in the world. For Hindus and devout believers in Tantra, it will be no coincidence that Kamakhya, the mother goddess of creation, is worshiped there.
Back in the sun. San Francisco Cable Cars, Life Ups and Downs
On Rails
San Francisco, USA

San Francisco Cable Cars: A Life of Highs and Lows

A macabre wagon accident inspired the San Francisco cable car saga. Today, these relics work as a charm operation in the city of fog, but they also have their risks.
Creepy Goddess Graffiti, Haight Ashbury, San Francisco, USA, United States America
Society
The Haight, San Francisco, USA

Orphans of the Summer of Love

Nonconformity and creativity are still present in the old Flower Power district. But almost 50 years later, the hippie generation has given way to a homeless, uncontrolled and even aggressive youth.
herd, foot-and-mouth disease, weak meat, colonia pellegrini, argentina
Daily life
Colónia Pellegrini, Argentina

When the Meat is Weak

The unmistakable flavor of Argentine beef is well known. But this wealth is more vulnerable than you think. The threat of foot-and-mouth disease, in particular, keeps authorities and growers afloat.
female and cub, grizzly footsteps, katmai national park, alaska
Wildlife
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.