We take a look at the nine schoolgirl cosplayers attending this year’s school festival.

In the autumn months of October and November, schools and universities around Japan hold their annual “bunkasai” or “culture festival“, an open day with activities, performances and stalls, all designed to entertain visitors and give them a glimpse into what usually goes on behind closed doors.

This year, a new bunkasai has appearaed on the Tokyo events calendar, and it’s being held by a high school nobody’s heard of before: Cos Colle Girls’ High School.

This “school” has been imagined up by Cosplay Collection (Cos Colle), an organisation that operates a wide variety of cosplay events and dojinshi conventions. This year, they’ve decided to add a bit of bunkasai flair to their activities by bringing us the “Cos Colle Girls’ High School Culture Festival 2017“, which will be held on 3 November in Ota-ku, a Tokyo ward with a self-confessed otaku as its parliamentary representative.

▼ Ota-ku’s otaku assemblyman Minoru Ogino has been open about his support for manga, anime and cosplay culture.

Nine cosplayers will be appearing as Cos Colle high school students, each representing a different after-school club, with a few transfer students and an exchange student thrown into the mix to add to the sense of realism.

First up are two “transfer students” from Fukuoka Prefecture:

▼ Uramaru…

▼ And Yuri, pictured on the left.

https://twitter.com/pynpynoO/status/913010876952698883

Joining them is Konegi – another transfer student – this time from Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture.

https://twitter.com/konegi12/status/915892692269203456

Liyu is the exchange student of the group, who actually hails from Shanghai, China in real-life. Currently studying Japanese, Liyu will be handing out Chinese sweets and handmade items on the day.

If you’ve ever been to a bunkasai, you’ll know that the after-school cultural clubs set up displays and activities to help introduce their work to visitors. The Cos Colle Girls’ bunkasai will be no different, as each student represents a member of a club and has special offers for visitors to enjoy.

Nono Nozuki is a member of the Art Club, and will be able to draw and sign a sketch of you on the spot, for a fee of 1,000 yen (US$8.88).

https://twitter.com/Nono_ndk/status/904829024261644288

Hayu Yumesaki is a Calligraphy Club member who will be able to turn your desired kanji (up to two characters) into a beautiful work of calligraphy for 1,000 yen.

https://twitter.com/dream_hayu/status/835622651351617536

Yura Yuuzuki, a member of the Design Art Club, will be handing out bromide photos and original design goods to visitors.

Hina Shua belongs to the Manga Club, and will be giving guests copies of her original dojinshi and illustrations, as well as offering to sketch and sign hand-drawn illustrations on the day.

https://twitter.com/hina_shua/status/883322311633281024

Rounding off the group is Cooking Club member Ama Yuuuma, who will be hand-moulding onigiri rice balls for visitors.

https://twitter.com/yuuuma_ama/status/864090739021455360

A lot of thought has clearly gone into the creation of the Cos Colle Girls’ High School Culture Festival, with a lot of fun activities on offer during the event. Most of the cosplayers will be giving out photos to guests and allowing them to take their own photos too, adding to the excitement of the day.

Though it’s advertised as a “high school festival”, in reality all the cosplayers participating in the event are older than actual high schoolers, with a lot of them currently studying at university. These cosplayers have social media accounts with tens of thousands of followers, so it’s sure to be a busy festival.

Event Information

Cos Colle Girls’ School Culture Festival / コスコレ女子高等学校文化祭2017
Address: Tokyo-to, Ota-ku, Nishikamata 8-4-12, Yuzawaya Kamata Building No. 11, 5-6F
東京都大田区西蒲田8-4-12 ユザワヤ蒲田11号館 ５F＆６F
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on 3 November
Admission: 2,000 yen
Website (Japanese)

Source: Cosplay Collection via Kai You
Featured image: Twitter/@cos0123