Why is it such a big part of Japan's pop culture?
When it was first introduced, there wasn't much interest. The J-Pop group SMAP gave Print Club photos of themselves to their TV program audience, and Print Club booths started to become popular. Other groups and idols followed SMAP's lead and started the craze. By 1997, teenagers wanted to collect as many of the photos as possible. In the spring of 1998, there were 25,000 Print Club machines, and many other copy cats on the market.
Read more: http://www.japanvisitor.com/japanese-culture/purikura#ixzz3mMI1iS4v