New cosplay photos from various events, spring 2007

"Athena", a game character with a pose from manga Sailor Moon.


"Lolita", a close-up of an original character from the genre Cos Loli in cosplay.


A female cosplayer wearing seifuku (school-uniform) posing with peace sign.


Four cosplayers from event "J-night", the ethnographer was asked to be in the photo (second person from right).


From left an original character, the following three persons are wearing seifuku (school-uniform). The second person from left is cross dressing (cross-player/cross-dresser).


An advertisement of the first J-night for year 2007.


A cross-dresser character from manga Susumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. He is wearing seifuku posing in front of the meido-kissa (a maid coffeehouse).


A female cosplayer wearing seifuku posing with peace signs.


An original character with real sword. This character is inspired by various Japanese war-time dramas.


Characters from manga Gundam.


A close-up of the female character from manga Gundam.


A close-up of the female character from manga Gundam.


A cross-dresser character of Okita from manga Gintama.



A female character from manga Gintama.


Characters from manga Gintama. On the right the character of Okita (cross-dresser) and on the left a female character inspired by Gintama.


A character of Pikkolo from manga/ anime Dragon Ball.


left, a character from manga Card Captor Sakura
right, an original "Cos Loli" character


A close-up of the "Cos Loli", an original character.


A character from manga Card Captor Sakura.

Reflections on photos

After presenting this photoblog and the photos in the class "Visual Anthropology of Japan", I got to answer some questions about cosplay as well as the photos in this blog. Here are some of the questions. The answers are based on the open interviews I did during this research.

"How do people start to do cosplay?"
The reason is fandom and interest. The people who get into cosplay, do not only want to stay as passive readers and consumers, but they want to customize their experience and be active part of it. The cosplayers that I met so far, do like manga and anime, but some of them also like fashion and the "making of things" by which I mean making of costumes and accessories.

"How many characters does one play?"
One can have just one character, or up to as many as 6 or more. It all depends how much time and money one is willing to give to cosplay.

"Is it common to cross-play?"
As cross-playing means that female plays a male character or vice versa, in the events that I went to, I only saw few persons doing this.

"How long the cons or events last, and is there collaboration with other activities?"
For example, the event in Cafe de Joule in Kyoto lasted for couple of hours, and there were also people who didn't cosplay or wear a costume.
Some bigger cons last for couple of days. And there are other activities and audience as well, for example with doujinshi (unofficial remakes of manga) and videogames.

"Do people wear the costume outside the event?"
It is not so common, because especially in Japan, wearing the costume outside the event might cause some unwanted reactions from by-passers.
In bigger events, for example in 3 day Tokyo Comiket, cosplayers are advised only to wear their costumes inside the event hall.



During the October of 2006 until of today, I got to see only a slight slide of the cosplay culture in Kansai. There are yet plenty of events to come, so I will be checking them out to keep this photoblog updated. Cosplay in Japan definitely has a distinct flavor and it is very visual. Cosplay is made Japanese by customizing the characters with Japanese hints. Also the rules of the events reflect the Japanese culture, hierarchy and values some what. Cosplay might look similar in different parts of the world, but yet it is done by local rules and interests.

Combined with other actitivies related to manga and anime, it forms a colorful youth subculture in Japan.

Cosplay photographs I

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.

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/

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.