Posts Tagged ‘cosplay’

Cosplayers Welcome Foreigners to Japan

Nothing says “yokoso” like a cat-eared maids waiting for you at the airport:

[Photo of cosplayers greeting foreign tourists at Kansai International Airport yesterday, via Danny Choo/Mainichi.]

Military Costume Mania in Japan

I just came across the following clip on YouTube. It’s a segment from the old Japanese TV show Koko ga hen da yo, nihonjin in which foreign panel members react to Japanese people who dress up in military uniforms as a hobby.

A translation of some of the main points:

• The South Korean panelists thinks their hobby is pretty dumb. One guy says they must have some sort of complex because their country lacks a true military. The other guy compares them to little children dressing up at Ultraman, and the hobbyists agree and feel no shame about such a comparison.
• The French panelist angrily tells the hobbyist in a Nazi uniform that it is very rude to wear such a thing. [Program plays a clip reminding viewers of what Germany did in WW2.] He says that you are not allowed to dress up like that in France.
• The German panelist informs them that their hobby would be illegal in Germany, and dressing up in Nazi attire would get them arrested.
• The Chinese panelist adds that those hobbyists dressed as Imperial Japanese uniforms would also be offensive to Chinese and Koreans. He states that it is important to know the meaning and history behind the uniforms, and that one should not wear them as something fashionable. A hobbyist responds claiming to be aware of the history behind the uniforms, which the Chinese panelist views as an even worse thing than just dressing up in the uniforms.
• There is an argument between one of the South Koreans and the hobbyists over whether their hobby is glorifying war. The hobbyists say that they are actually against war, and that dressing up in uniforms does not promote war.
• A Japanese guest thinks that people today who wear leather bomber jackets, which were worn by the Americans who dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, are kind of similar to the guys who dress up in Nazi uniforms because they look cool.
• As the hobbyists leave the studio, one of them gives a Nazi salute towards the audience. The French guy has a tantrum and tries to attack the hobbyist. He is restrained by the TV crew, and doesn’t take very kindly to a German panelist telling him not to react in such a way.

Chinese Cosplay Event

An anime/manga-themed cultural exchange event was held at a department store in Beijing yesterday. Here’s a news report showing some of the Chinese cosplayers who participated: