3-D figures offer memento of happy days

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A growing number of people are buying 3-D images of themselves created with 3-D printers to commemorate important events or preserve a record of their appearance.

Couples, as well as parents and children, have ordered the figures to commemorate important life events such as marriage and enrollment in school. Middle-aged and elderly people have sought 3-D figures to use in place of memorial photos after their deaths, and there are also a large number of cancer patients who have wanted to preserve an image of themselves before losing their hair due to treatment with anticancer medicines.

“Unlike photos, [the 3-D figures] can convey a person’s aura three-dimensionally, and people can hold them in their hands,” a spokesperson for a 3-D figure maker said. “We believe the uses for such figures will continue to expand.”

Ruri Suzuki, 65, in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, said she thought, “I want to leave something for my husband to remember me by” when she saw a leaflet for a 3-D figure maker in October last year. It was promotional material for the Aoyama 3D Salon, based in Minato Ward, Tokyo.

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