Some of you may have heard of kawaii: a Japanese culture centred around cuteness. More specifically, it is the appreciation of an unusual kind of cuteness that is happy, childlike and positive. Interestingly, this movement was first seen during a time of rebellion, when Japanese university students in the late 1960s boycotted their lectures and read manga comics instead to protest what they saw as prescribed academic knowledge. Growing in the 70s and 80s, kawaii popped up across popular culture, setting the stage for the cuteness phenomenon now loved across the globe.
Some great examples of kawaii I’m sure you have all seen before include Hello Kitty, Nintendo, swan boats, Pokémon and of course, Japanese photo booths, or purikura – one of the most iconic examples of kawaii. Purikura comes from the term “purinto kurabu” meaning “print club”. Beginning as booths that created simple portraits adorned with a cartoonish frame, these images have evolved with the times. Nowadays, photo technologies allow you to apply text, motifs, fake eyelashes, change your hair colour, enlarge your eyes and even alter your body proportions! With whole floors in Japanese arcades devoted to purikura, they have long been an inexpensive way to make fun, and incredibly cute, memories with friends and family.
It goes without saying that we are big fans of the traditional Japanese purikura model. Always focused on having fun, these booths have inspired one of our most popular products: The Frankly Social Sticker Photo Booth. Although similar in many ways to the Japanese design, our booths are also portable and can be activated in the original way, or even through a customised hashtag. We are always delighted to see friends, family and colleagues get together and make photo memories they can stick on their smartphones, notebooks, laptops or keep tucked away in their purse or wallet. And just recently a client hired us to create customised (and very cute) photo gift labels and school book labels. These were a big hit, and our team didn’t take a break printing over 800 labels in 3 hours!
These booths never fail to release the cuteness in our guests, so get in touch and we will send a little kawaii your way with our Sticker Photo Booth!
