Instant Cameras Capture People's Hearts in Japan

Tokyo, Jan. 30 (Jiji Press)--Instant cameras that allow people to print out photos on the spot are gaining popularity in Japan, with the cute design of the colorful, box-like cameras capturing the hearts of young Japanese women. Sales of the instant cameras, which offer new ways of enjoying online photo-sharing, are on the rise, amid slumping digital cameras shipments. The instax instant camera series from Fujifilm Corp., a unit of Fujifilm Holdings Corp. <4901>, has seen a sharp increase in its number of users since around 2012, the time smartphones started to become popular. The top-selling models of the instax series, also known as "cheki," have a price range of around 10,000 to 20,000 yen. The company expects sales of instax cameras to reach a record high of some 7.5 million units, including overseas sales, in fiscal 2017. Although not as high-definition as a smartphone's digital images, the pictures of instant cameras offer the soft tones unique to film photos, one reason why such cameras are drawing people's interest. "We might look prettier in photos taken by instant cameras, as they are more out of focus than photos taken on smartphones," a 23-year-old female university student from Tokyo said. Taking a picture of an instant camera photo placed against another background, or the so-called photo-in-photo style, has also spread among the younger generation. High-end instant camera models have a function that digitizes photos and allows people to change the color tone before printing. Such features can contribute to "instagenic" photos, popular when uploaded via photo-sharing apps. In 2016, Leica Camera AG, a well-established German camera manufacturer, released the Leica Sofort instant camera priced at around 36,000 yen. "The camera is not just popular among young women but also with existing male Leica fans in their 40s-50s," a public relations official of the company said. END