’Tis the season for Japan’s cosplay models to slip into their cute and sexy Santa outfits.

In some people’s opinion, casting off a belief in Santa is a necessary part of growing up. Others find value in their continued faith that kindness and good deeds will be annually rewarded by a generous guy with a taste for cookies and milk.

But whether you believe in Santa Claus or not, one thing we can all agree on is that Santacos is definitely, unquestionably real.

https://twitter.com/msrmmn/status/1209654458566598656

If you’re not familiar with the term (it won’t show up in your Japanese-English dictionary), Santacos is the term Japan has coined for Santa-themed cosplay, like model Momono Mashiro is engaging in above.. And while Japanese cosplayers dedication to their craft is world-renowned, Santacos is less about slavish dedication to orthodox Santa source material, and more about adapting the design cues of Santa’s iconic wardrobe into cute and/or sexy outfits with plenty of red velvet and snow-white faux fur trim.

▼ Race queen Yu Kikuchi

But even with those design parameters, there’s still a lot of wiggle room for individualized designs that set one outfit apart from others. For example swimsuit model Aoi Hinata has swapped out the traditional Santa cap for a hood instead.

https://twitter.com/aoi_hnta/status/1209280031899258880

Yuma Shirayuki, meanwhile, take Santacos in an idol/gothic Lolita-inspired direction…

https://twitter.com/_y_1520/status/1209035241437855744

…and cosplayer Hiyori adds candy-cane tights and bunny ears, because when was the last time that headgear didn’t win someone a few extra popularity points?

https://twitter.com/reinerrubin2/status/1208749736452247554

Since Santacos cosplayers are generally wearing their outfits indoors, as opposed to an open-topped sleigh flying through the mid-winter night sky, exposed-shoulder variations are always popular.

▼ Amano Chiyo

Some, like Yuka Aoi, take the coverage down to a minimum…

…but others, such as Kae Akari, are much more bundled up.

▼ Race queen Kotone Minase

▼ AKB48 idol Yuki Kashiwaga

▼ Santacos video from model and Akihabara-based balloon art designer Yui Uchida

▼ Cosplayer Arisa LayerJpn with the eye-catching choice of a blue Santacos outfit

https://twitter.com/arisa_LayerJpn/status/1209636883451404289

Looking at all this yuletide spirit, you can practically hear the Santacos contributors shouting “Merry Christmas!”

▼ Or you can actually hear them shouting it here.

So merry Christmas to all, and to all Santacos cosplayers, otsukaresama!

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Follow Casey on Twitter, where he’d like to confirm that, yes, he meant “balloon art designer” literally, and not as a euphemism for something else.