Photographs from a cosplay event held in Cafe de Joule, Kyoto, Japan
10th of November, 2006:
A character inspired by D. Gray-man
A character inspired by Kurosaki Ichigo from Bleach
A character inspired by supervisor from Bleach
A character inspired by supervisor from Bleach, close-up
Group of friends who went to the event
Other participants
A character of Luna from Gundam Seed
A character of Luna from Gundam Seed, close-up
Luna from Gundam Seed and character inspired by supervisor from Bleach
An advertisement of the event held in Cafe de Joule, Kyoto
Photographs from Osaka:
Advertisements of `meidokissa` in Nihonbashi, Osaka. Dressing up as maids for work can be seen as cosplay as well.
A popular shop for the fans of manga called Mandarake in Umeda, Osaka.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
What is cosplay?
Cosplay comes from words `costume` and `play`. It means dressing up as characters from anime, computer or video games, manga, movies, cartoons and so on. But it is not only dressing up as the character. In cosplay, you also act as the character. That is why haistyles, make-up and accessories are important as well. Facial expressions, body postures and attitude of the character are shown too.
Important part of the hobby and subculture of cosplay is making and customizing of outfits. Many people make their own outfits by combining ready-made parts and parts made from the "scratch".
Cosplayers meet and share their culture in smaller and bigger happenings. Bigger happenings, cons, gather hundreds of cosplayers under the same roof. Smaller happenings can take place for example in `meidokissa` (maid-coffeehouses).
Famous places to see cosplayers and their culture in Japan is for example Harajuku area in Tokyo. Cosplayers gather there outdoors often on weekends.
Other terms used in cosplay are`skit`, which means putting up a show to express the personality of the character, `crossplay`, which means playing a character of the other sex (female plays a male character and vice versa), `groupcosplay`, which means that a group plays characters from the same source.
Cosplay has long roots in Japan, but as it is more of a subculture, it doesn`t advertise itself that much. There are cosplayers in other countries as well, from U.S.A to Europe and Asian countries. For example in Finland, there is a community dedicated to Finnish cosplayers called Cosplay Finland at http://cosplay.animeunioni.org
You can get a glimpse of cosplay in Japan in Cosplay Community Site Cure at http://cure.livedoor.com/
Important part of the hobby and subculture of cosplay is making and customizing of outfits. Many people make their own outfits by combining ready-made parts and parts made from the "scratch".
Cosplayers meet and share their culture in smaller and bigger happenings. Bigger happenings, cons, gather hundreds of cosplayers under the same roof. Smaller happenings can take place for example in `meidokissa` (maid-coffeehouses).
Famous places to see cosplayers and their culture in Japan is for example Harajuku area in Tokyo. Cosplayers gather there outdoors often on weekends.
Other terms used in cosplay are`skit`, which means putting up a show to express the personality of the character, `crossplay`, which means playing a character of the other sex (female plays a male character and vice versa), `groupcosplay`, which means that a group plays characters from the same source.
Cosplay has long roots in Japan, but as it is more of a subculture, it doesn`t advertise itself that much. There are cosplayers in other countries as well, from U.S.A to Europe and Asian countries. For example in Finland, there is a community dedicated to Finnish cosplayers called Cosplay Finland at http://cosplay.animeunioni.org
You can get a glimpse of cosplay in Japan in Cosplay Community Site Cure at http://cure.livedoor.com/
Friday, November 17, 2006
About this blog
My blog called "Visuaalinen" is a photoblog about costume play (cosplay) in Japan.
It is a researchproject for the class I`m taking, which is Visual Anthropology of Japan. In this blog, I hope to show some of the aspects of cosplay in Japan and especially in Kansai area. This blog will mainly consist of photos, but I will also add some information and facts about cosplay.
It is a researchproject for the class I`m taking, which is Visual Anthropology of Japan. In this blog, I hope to show some of the aspects of cosplay in Japan and especially in Kansai area. This blog will mainly consist of photos, but I will also add some information and facts about cosplay.
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