Purikura, or "print club," is a type of Japanese photo booth that first appeared in 1995. Initially, the booths were intended for businessmen to take small pictures of themselves for business cards. However, the product quickly gained popularity in the gyaru subculture, with page after page of EGG Gyaru magazine filled with purikura photos.

At the height of its popularity, purikura was considered a sort of "mecca" for young people, particularly Ganguro and Kogals, who would gather at purikura locations to take and share photos with friends. These locations, known as purikura meccas, were filled with different types of purikura booths and often featured a variety of backgrounds and props, which allowed kogals to decorate their photos with a wide range of stickers, frames, and other embellishments.

However, in recent years, the popularity of purikura has waned, and many of the purikura meccas have closed down. While the trend has declined, there are still some locations such as Girls Mignon that still dedicate themselves to having all sorts of different purikura booths available for Japanese youth.

Now, in the Reiwa era, which began in 2019, the trend has changed and purikura targets JK gals. JK gals are high school girls who are known for their love of cute and trendy fashion. Unlike the kogals of the Heisei era, JK gals tend to prefer a more natural, minimalistic look, and this is reflected in the purikura experience. The purikura booths in Reiwa have less decorations and focus more on high-quality camera and lighting to capture natural beauty of the users. Additionally, with the rise of social media networks, the need for physical photos has decreased, and this has led to a decline in the popularity of purikura.

It is interesting to note that no one expected that purikura would become so popular in gyaru culture. But purikura has become a cultural phenomenon that has been able to capture the hearts of many young people in Japan, which has resulted in the emergence of many purikura meccas, and now in recent years, the rise of scarcity of these purikura locations.

Despite the decline in popularity, purikura remains an important part of Japanese youth culture and a nostalgic reminder of the past. As the trends change and technology evolves, it will be interesting to see how the purikura experience adapts and evolves in the future.