Purikura

One of my favorite things to do in Japan is to go into the city or anywhere really with my friends and take purikura pictures. Now if you don't know, purikura are basically pictures taken at a special Japanese photo booth. What is so fun or special about that? Well it isn't about the fact that you are taking crazy pictures with your friends. It is about what you can do to these purikura pictures that makes them so fun and entertaining.

When entering a booth, you will first need to insert the amount of money listed above the slot in the machine which is about 400 or 500 yen (about 6USD). Now these machines can hold about 4 or 5 people (more if you really squeeze in) so if you split the cost, you are most likely to only be paying about a dollar or so each. The screen will turn on and usually ask you what skin tone of pictures you would like to choose. You can darken, lighten, or keep your skin tone normal. Sometimes you will get an option for the size of your eyes as well. You can make them super alien-ish big (which I would recommend) or you can keep them normal etc. One thing you cannot change about the machine is the make-up which it will automatically put on your face. You sometimes can choose a more natural make-up look opposed to a very bright make-up look, or sometimes you cannot even choose at all. WARNING though, if you are a male taking purikura you WILL no matter what end up looking girly due to the larger eyes, extra lipstick, blush, mascara the machine adds to your face in the picture.

SECOND WARNING: Purikura machines don't give you a lot of time to chose things, so pick quick or it will pick for you.

So ok after choosing which background you want and you take your pictures, exit the machine in the direction it points to. There you will find an area under a curtain where you can decorate all your pictures. You can add glitter, cat whiskers, dates, words, or basically anything you want! If you want to be Japanese-like though don't add a lot. As a foreigner I always tended to add way more than the picture needed, which may be the reason why I ended up with some pretty horrible pictures. Just Decorate!
Afterwords, you can choose which layout you want the pictures to print in and/or how many people its for (sometimes if you have two or three people they will come pre-cut so you only have to rip them apart). Wait for them to print, and if you have internet access on your cell phone, type in your email address and download them as well. After its all done, cut them apart, divide them between your friends and enjoy!

Here are what some should look like: