Dolls dress up as cosplay craze goes global
WaiWai's Marvin Feltcher wrote:... cosplay ... is another Japanese pastime gradually gaining fans overseas ...
Cosplay -- a Japanese contraction of the English words costume and play -- shows are held regularly throughout Japan and similar events are slowly gaining popularity in other parts of the globe.
"In Europe, there are cosplay contests attracting tens of thousands of people mainly in their early 20s and mostly from France," a Japanese cosplay fan tells Shukan Taishu. "In the States, they have similar sorts of contests, where the winners are treated virtually like stars." ...
Most cosplayers say they get into dressing up because they want to feel as though they have actually transformed into their favorite character and they can enjoy the experience all for themselves ...
I just realised - I cosplay up to 5 times a week
I don't make my own costumes but I've bought at least 3 main outfits so I can play my character. I get up early every morning, shower and put on the outfit and catch the train while wearing it. Hardly anyone gives me a second glance. I've even gone to the trouble of finding a job where I can where my outfit and not look too silly.
My character is one of most popular, I've noticed, and is called Salaryman.