Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Secrets of Purikura... プリクラの秘密!!








































Purikura is big business in Japan as you might already know. Pretty much all young Japanese people loves it and nowadays they're making new kind of machines with all kind of funny effects every month. Here is some Purikura photos together with Leon and Jenni.








































Purikura = Japanese photo machines
The word Purikura is an abbreviation of the words "Print Club" which with Japanese spelling becomes "Purinto Kurabu". Japanese people loves making words short, so they put those words together with the result "PuriKura".

So why is it called "Print Club"!? I guess it's because the main thing used to be that you get the photos printed out as stickers when you're done with the photo session.








































I once asked Leon how many times he have been taking Purikura photos, and he thought it was more than 700 times. So he has some experience, as well as Jenni. No wonder why they look so great at the pictures!! =)

This was at the time when Leon had just learned the expression "LOL" so he finished almost every sentence he wrote with it as you can see in the right bottom corner. XD

Japanese people use the Kanji for the word "Warau" which means "Laugh", inside of brackets to express somthing similar to "LOL". It looks like this:
(笑)








































One time me and Leon had a discussion about the point of Purikura machines:

Leon: -"How come you always take pictures of everything?"

Me: -"Because everything in Japan is so interesting and different for me,
since we don't have it in Sweden. 

Doesn't Japanese people take photos when they go out? Overseas Japanese tourists are known for always taking a lot of photos, you know."

Leon: -"Japanese people usually don't bring cameras with them when going out here. I guess that's why there is Purikura-machines. Whenever you go out with your friends here, you take Purikura photos together with them to remember that time."








































Leon is right about that taking Purikura photos together with friends is nice as memories. This Purikura makes me remember when Jakob and Jonathan from school, Penny that used to live in my guest house, the journalist Thomas and me ate at a nice Izakaya and then went to club Atom for example! =)

One of the fun things with purikura is that you can edit the photos and choose backgrounds. This is made possible by having the same kind of green background in the photo booth as they use when they have special effects in movies.





























So what happens if you use green clothes when you take purikura!!??
I accidently used this green striped cardigan when I took purikura together with Yukino and here is
the result:

 




































What!? The stripes on my cardigan that used to be really green are now colorless! The color are so similar to the one of the Purikura booth's background so the machines thinks it should not be visible.






































So if you weared clothes with exactly the same green color as the background I guess you would become invisible! Gotta try that some time! :D






































I finally realize why green clothes aren't popular in Japan! ;)





























Since that Purikura session was ruined we had to take new photos.
Useless green cardigan!! ;D Luckily it's cheap, just 400 yen.





























I love Yukino's hat! It's a bit similar to the black one I have, but bigger.






































Wearing that hat is almost like a whole outfit! Imagine how comfortable to wake up in the morning and only need to put on a hat before going to work or school! XD

  






































You might have noticed that people often look really good at Purikura photos like Mathilda and Shun in this photo. But it is actually possible to fail... Just look at me on this photo with dry lips and blemishes all over my face... :(








































That was before I learned the secrets of Purikura! ;D

So what are the secrets!!?? :O




































 

Well, if you're the whitest, most pale guy alive like me and not born with perfect skin
there is solutions in Japan... ;)

Many Gyaru-O use foundation and make-up made for men. The Men's EGG-model Ayumu doesn't only have his own clothing and fragrance brand, he also has a make-up brand.

Since "Make-up" sounds a bit girly, they call it "Men's Maintenance" instead.





























There is sometimes detailed tutorials in the Men's EGG magazines for putting on facial masks and
doing make-up.

I've heard from people that for girls in Japan it's even an unwritten rule to always have make-up on when they leave the house which sounds crazy, so I guess it's no wonder that people like to wear those "hospital-masks" instead as a reader mentioned in a comment.





























And then there's the eye enlargement effect...
Japan might be the most techinacally advanced country in the world. Some of Japan's professors works with rocket science or trying to cure cancer, but there's no doubt about that they put their best men on the task to make people's eyes look bigger! ;D





























One of the most popular Purikura machines ever is the "Honey Heart Haafu Kao".
"Haafu Kao" = "Half Face" which means that your face will look half foreign if you
take photos with this machine.





























According to the machine, this is the natural eye-size. Level 1.

















But this machine will give you the perfect eye-size. Level 3!! So sick...





























But that's not all, it will also change the volume of your lips, your noseline and your cheaks...
I don't know if this eliminates the demand for plastic surgery or only promotes it!?






































"Half-Purikura" with Kenichi and Lloyd.

























































Afterwards you can put on all kinds of eye shadow, color contact lenses and lipstick. So you can go
into the Purikura booth looking like crap and still look like a super model on the photos! Almost... ;D





























In this machine you can also put special stamps from Russia, UK, France, Netherlands and even Sweden! :D






































I put one of the most common Swedish souvenirs the "Dalahäst" in the left corner. ^_^

  



























When I did this with Yulia that's partly Russian and partly Japanese she put one of those Russian wooden dolls at her side and I stick with the Swedish "Dalahäst"...





























The first time we took Purikura together we didn't really know how to act when the photos were taken. So this time we looked at all the example pictures on the machines and practiced different poses for half an hour before starting. That actually made it even more fun!

After taking the Purikura photos Yulia said that she thought there should be cameras with the same functions as Purikura machines.






































I guess it's hard for a personal digital camera to achieve as great light as it is in the Purikura booths. The Purikura booths are almost like small modeling studios when you think about it, with light reflectors all over the place.

But recently I heard that many upcoming cameras in Japan will have something called "Purikura functions". So maybe Yulia's wish will come true after all! =)



























One of the funniest Purikura-memories gotta be when Erik to the right in this picture, who's a member of the band Wild Flowers, was here for a while to visit his Japanese girlfriend.






































Erik thought that everybody always looks so happy and cool on the Purikura pictures
so he wanted to see if it's even possible to look bored and angry in Purikura! ^^






































Erik proved that it's possible to look very bored and angry on Purikura haha!! :D

As you can see in this video he was really happy when the results came!! He has been living in Hollywood for too long now so he has really catched up that American movie star accent! ;)



However, if you really wanna become good at something you better study how the professionals do it!!





























The EGG Youth-models Masshu and Akkiina sure know how to take a cool Purikura photo!





























Their model colleagues Shouya and Naokyun are no beginners either!





























It's pretty nice to take Purikura together with friends but after all it's much more fun to do it alone! ;D

I guess I'm just one of many poor souls that has become a Purikura addict. If I don't get my daily doze of Purikura it will start to itch, and I won't be able to think about anything but that! ;)

My friends has even started to call me FurePuri. "FurePuri" is an abbreviation of my name Fredrik which becomes Furederikku in Japanese, and then Purikura. XD

Street Snap of the Day 今日のストリートスナップ #20




































This Liz Liza staff in Shibuya 109 was announcing a "Time Sale for the jacket she is holding.

Time Sales are very common in Japan. All of a sudden the shop staff goes outside the store and starts shouting that it's a Time Sale. That means that it's a price discount, but only for a limited time.

The Time Sale can last for some hours, or sometimes only 30 minutes. Sometimes it's a price discount on certain items for that time, and sometimes on everything in the store.






































Time Sale in one of the stores in Harajuku's biggest shopping mall LaForét!

Maybe it's a way to stress people into buying unnecessary things! ;D
Because they always play music louder than in a night club while all the staff is shouting "Time Sale!!! Time Sale!!!" making it impossible for you to think clearly... XD






































It's Time Sale!!! You know you can't resist!! ;)

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

•❤•❤• Double Heart in My Heart •❤•❤•


























It's time for another edition of my favorite party Double Heart!!^^
Here with Engla and the EGG-model Recchi.






































My "fashion point" of the party outfit was definitley the hat from 6%DOKIDOKI in Harajuku.
Necklace from CocoLulu and "Jet Set"-watch from Ur&Penn in Sweden.






































I guess point number 2 is the belt hanging on the side. It's from Daisy and the first time I saw it Masshu was wearing it. It looked so cool on him so I had to buy it...

Getting that volume in the hair wasn't very easy, and it didn't last for long... :(






































The hat looks like this from the side.
























Since tails and fur has been trendy for some time now I have been joking with my friends about that the next big thing will be hats with tails attached to them. Just like the ones that The Junior Woodchucks on this picture is wearing you know.

























And then when I open the latest Men's EGG magazine it says that the next big trend is going to be exactly those kind of hats!! XD



















I love Japanese fashion for being so playful!! In Sweden everything should be so "grown up" and mature all the time when it comes to fashion and pretty much everything. But in Japan it seems like everybody wanna stay kids forever! =D

A Japanese friend of mine said that the evolution is going backwards in Japan. humans are looking more and more like animals with their tails and cat ear hats!! XD 

he best hat of them all gotta be the hat Amadeus is wearing here!! :D














It reminds me of the Tanookie-suit from Super Mario Bros 3!^^




































 

On my way to meet some other people that were also coming to the party, Engla kept messaging me about if they had big lockers.
The reason why she wondered was because she had just won these "Alpackor" as she calls them on the UFO Catcher hahah... XD

Watch Engla play the "UFO Catcher" here:








































Engla got a big bag for her "Alpackor" and Katharina from Finland that's been
here studying before joined!






































Next person to show up was Shiena from Canada with a pimped out cell phone!





































 

So cool!! So "Kira Kira"!! Kira Kira = Bling Bling


























Then two of Katharina's Korean friends came and it was time to set off to the party destination! ;)






































Even though I've been to the club so many times I always end up getting lost or taking the wrong train somehow. XD

This train station worker was pointing at this train with a very serious face to show that this was the last train for tonight to Roppongi where we were going.
We made it just in time...

Here's some strange small-talk from inside the train:



Sorry that some part of it is in Swedish. Here's translation of that conversation:

Engla: -"Did you see my video blog?"

Me: -"Video blog?? From Where?"

Engla: -"From the Men's EGG Party."

Me: -"I haven't seen it yet but I will check it out."

Then Engla says something that I can't hear no matter how many times I watch this video. :/

Then we arrived at the party!! Yaaaay!!^^
A disappointment for me was that there was much more red hats as you can see than those "Junior Woodchuck"-hats that's the big thing for the new year! Hello!!?? Wake up!! It's 2011 now!! ;)







One of the "Red Hats" were Michama which is the one that registered us as guests. Since Shun has sadly stopped being a Double Heart-staff, we're on her guest list from now on.


























We were both wearing the same kind of CocoLulu-necklace.
Michama is actually a shop-staff at CocoLulu! =)






































Another girl wearing a red hat as well was Rina, shop staff at JSG.






More red hats... It must have been some kinda theme I missed!?
First I thought the girl to the right was Kanako's best friend Romihi but it wasn't. :/

Romihi to the right.

What do you think? Does she look like Romihi?









Despite the presence of all "The Red Hats", everybody had fun!! ;)






But how can you not enjoy yourselves when you get free glowing wristbands!!^^





































 

Leon's friend, and Shibuya 109-2 Disrev staff, Chuusuke was also there.
He's usually really shy but I guess he had been drinking tonight because he talked non-stop.





























Odacchi and his friend.

The best part of every gyaru-party is when the DJ play the Tokyo Rave/Another Night Remix. It's only played one time every party and before it starts it gets totally quiet and a robot voice goes:
-"Tokyo Rave" 

And then everybody goes crazy like this:








































Michama rocking it!!






































She had some strange green being hanging out from her pocket and gloves around her neck!

Recchi must spend a lot of thought behind every outfit she wears. You never she her wear the same clothes or have the same hair style two times.


























Shiena, Katharina, Engla, Recchi and Me. I have never noticed it before but Recchi talks with a baby voice, at least this night...

She had American flag style tonight, that's been really trendy both in Sweden and Japan lateley. Maybe everywhere?





























Ren and Hiroki dressed up in American flag style. Hiroki(right) even matches the flags stars with a small star in his right ear haha...






 























Talking about the American flag, here me and Shiena are together with Lexi from America that arranges club events in Tokyo. And my hair has started to live it's own life some hours into the party... :/





























With Shibuya 109-2 Kingdom staff Masayama.





























Happy party people!




























When I sat down I saw that the girl to the right had very furry shoes! =)






























Somebody borrowing my hat.





























About 4 o clock in the morning 5 more EGG-models/staff showed up! 
Yuunyan, Chibou, Sasshi, KenKen and Makochi.

I got really suprised when I came in to the bathroom and saw Chiboo standing there 4 in the morning!





























Me: -"Chibo, what are you doing here!?

Chibou: -"Hahah, it's Chibooooo, not Chibo!
We have met infinite times so you should know by know!" ;)





























Partying with the man, the myth, the legend Yuunyan 6 in the morning!! :D





























Love his hat!! Much better than the red ones! ;D
I have noticed that he's ALWAYS wearing that star-neclace by the way.





























With the one and only KenKen!!^^ Makochi in the background.




























The party never seemed to end...





























When it was over around 7.30 in the morning Odacchis friend in the middle couldn't take anymore
and looked like he was going to puke... Poor him! :(











But Engla still had a lot of energy!!






































It was an awesome party anyway, and it's a new one this saturday 26th February!! ^^
Double Heart will celebrate their three year anniversary!! =)

If anybody of you are in Tokyo and wanna come, send a mail to agepoyo@live.se
or contact me on Facebook: Fredrik Lyck

See you!! ^^