Harajuku (明治神宮/コスプレ), Tokyo (東京)
Kanto, Honshu, Japan
Autumn 2009
Kanto, Honshu, Japan
Autumn 2009
Cosplay (コスプレ, kosupure), short for "costume play", is type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan. Favorite sources include manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, hentai and fantasy movies.
The term cosplay represents a contraction of the English words costume play. The term was coined by Nov Takahashi of the Japanese studio Studio Hard while attending the 1984 Los Angeles Science Fiction Worldcon. He was impressed by the hall and the costumed fans and reported on both in Japanese science fiction magazines.
Cosplayers in Japan refer to themselves as reiya (レイヤー); pronounced "layer". Those who photograph players are called cameko, short for "Camera Kozo" or "Camera Boy". Portraying a character of the opposite sex is "crossplay" while portraying a character who dresses as the opposite sex (from the cosplayer) is called "crossdress".
Jingūbashi passes over Yamanote Line south of Harajuku Station, Tokyo, at the Meiji Shrine gate. It is a famous gathering place for cosplayers.
Cosplayers gather here every Sunday...
Cross-dressing seems the norm here...
Street vendors join in the crowd by plying their wares...
The full album is available at:
Harajuku's Costumed Beauties
