Print club photography in Japan

Abstract

The authors examine the popularity of a new form of photographic representation in Japan, namely Print Club, or Purikura. Print Club machines initially delivered a page of 16 postage‐stamp‐sized photographs of their patrons, but many other formats have become common. This paper describes the 1995 emergence and development of the technology, image content, decorative frames, picture uses and functions and the incorporation of Print Club into a broad range of personal, social and even business and artistic life in Japan. The authors review connections to patterns of popular culture, consumerism, gender bias, adolescent youth culture, and interpersonal communication alongside issues of individual identity and group membership. Some claim Print Club as a fad, but six years later, all indicators point to a lasting contribution to Japanese visual culture.