コスプレ

Another very popular form of Street Style is Cosplay. Once confined to Japan, cosplaying has become an international phenomenon. Although most cosplay is limited to conventions or cons in other parts of the world, may young people in the Harajuku area dress in cosplay type styles on a daily basis. Cosplay Style is highly influenced by anime, manga, Japanese animated feature films and video games. Cosplay has been an integral part of Japanese pop culture for decades. Young people dress up in rather extreme outfits, usually inspired by manga/anime characters or other, more abstract, themes.

I talked to Joshua Wagner at the Cherry Blossom festival about his costume. Each layer was created by hand and looks like a craftsman and blacksmith came together to create a marvelous outfit. I thought it looked like a piece that came out of a Final Fantasy game.

I, personally, cosplayed from my most favorite anime from childhood, Pokémon. I dressed up in a Pikachu ginjinka cosplay as Pikachu is the most recognizable cultural figure associated with Japan. Each piece was handsewn and designed to be cute and stand out from ordinary cosplay outfits of the same character that can be bought from stores. The fun in cosplaying is being recognized by children who want to take photos with you. The community is welcoming and very, very fun! If one is good enough, cosplayers can enter contests for best cosplay which includes prize money. There are successful cosplayers like Yaya Han who have made a business and living off of cosplay.