Self-photography among Japanese schoolgirls developed into a major preoccupation by late 1999. Understanding the conventions and customs that surround the making and sharing of self-photography has resulted in the development of a unique purikura lexicon, reflecting just how deeply it entrenched has become in girl culture. Along with many other types of Japanese popular culture, purikura offers students insight into culturally-specific concerns and constraints. Self-photography is unregulated cultural production, created and shared away from the scrutinizing gaze of parents, teachers, and other authority figures. The success of the purikura is largely due to how skillfully the technology has evolved to address more than one social function. In 2010, Bandai Namco introduced a purikura machine that had the capability to upload the photo stickers to cell phones and to social media sites. The idea for creating a photo sticker booth came from Sasaki Miho, who worked for the videogame and software company Atlus.