I suck at PuriKura.

I never really understood the popularity of purikura in Japan. The afterschool masses of teenage schoolgirls flooding arcade centers across the country. Before I arrived in Japan, I had heard of purikuri and when the opportunity arrose, I tried it just for the experience. Purikura is one of those things you "have to do" when in Japan, the kind of novelty weirdness that foreigners demand and Japan delivers. But before I get ahead of myself, I'll give you the wiki rundown of just what purikura is.

Purikura (プ リクラ) is a popular type of photobooth found throughout Japan and Asia. You and your friends gather in front a greenscreen and an automated digital system takes a series of pictures which you then add effects like backgrounds, stamps and writing using a touchscreen and pen. After choosing the desired size and number of photos, the machine prints them out onto sticker-backed paper. The most common use for them is to plaster various objects like phones and binders with 1 inch stickers. And if having them all over your phone isn’t enough, you can have the machine send digital copies directly to your phone via email or infrared.

Whenever I have done purikura, it was to commemorate some kind of outing or event. Though this doesn't seem to be a very good means of doing so, as all purikura looks the same. Rainbows, stars, flying rabbits. And all the pinkness. It doesn't matter if it’s your birthday in Tokyo or you just went on a date in Kyoto; it’s all the same. But it seems the majority of people (teenage girls) that do purikura don't care about that. They don't seem to have any other purpose but to fill up entire notebooks with $4 photo stickers.

And this leads me to my main point: I suck at purikura.

I've really tried to not look awkward, sleep-deprived and ghost-like, but it all ends up the same. Take a look for yourself.It seems that purikura software is designed to make asian people look white and white people look terrifyingLuckily, I am not the only one.Now if one can suck at purikura, that means there are people that are good at purikura, possibly even purikura pros. Sure enough, I found this outside of a game center:This is the purikura hall of fame. Those that are shown to have exceptional purikura skills have their sets posted here.

However, not all purikura is created equal. The above sign was right next to the hall of fame and states, along with a helpful diagram, what is not allowed. Girl and girl, maru. Guy and girl, also maru. Guy and guy, batsu! I don't know how they feel about groups of guys, as I did see a group of about 5 male high school students go in as a group. Purikura is clearly, like the internet, serious business.