Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
cosplay (Page 37)
The Tokyo Game Show for 2014 closed its doors this past weekend, and a record number of game companies showed up to display four times as many titles as last year. As always, the ever popular cosplay was a big hit and thousands of people came to buy the unique goods sold there. But what about the show itself? Was it the best attended TGS in years? Did it smash attendance records all around the world?
The lawyer for the family of Darrien Hunt, the 22-year-old man allegedly shot and killed by police officers in Saratoga Springs, Utah last week, said that the family believes Hunt was cosplaying an anime character when he was shot. In particular, the family’s attorney Randall Edwards said that they believe Hunt was dressed as the character Mugen from the anime Samurai Champloo, with a Japanese-style katana sword on his back.
On September 10, two officers confronted Hunt while he was carrying the sword near a credit union in Saratoga Springs. After one shot was fired near the credit union, Hunt was shot and killed about 200 yards away near a Panda Express restaurant.
The Tokyo Game Show opened up to the general public this Saturday, and we were right there in the midst of the crowds of attendees from all over the world.
With the event spread across the huge Makuhari Messe exhibition centre it was quite a workout getting from one end to the other while navigating meandering queues of gamers waiting for a chance to play exclusive demos, but somehow we managed it and lived to tell the tale.
While there were plenty of gorgeous booth babes around inside, I headed out to the cosplay area where amateur enthusiasts show off their home-made outfits, and often plenty of skin too.
These days, cosplay functions as a 40 billion yen (US$390 million) industry and has a large impact on Japan’s economy. Now, before moving on, please allow me to clarify that ‘cosplay’ to Japan does not only refer to people dressing up as anime and video game characters, but includes all manner of live action, Western, original characters, nurses, maids, and so on. Virtually any costume worn for fun is considered cosplay over here. So what kinds of special services are available to avid cosplayers in Japan? And how are cosplayers themselves making the most out of this bountiful, infinitely tolerant environment? Read More
Swedish furniture giant IKEA has never been short of creative ideas, be they for furniture or campaigns to catch our attention. IKEA Singapore previously featured the element of cosplay in their advertising, demonstrating their ability to transform a cosplayer’s cluttered mess into an organized, stylish room with their storage systems.
This time, their Malaysian counterparts have incorporated elements of cosplay into one of their marketing stints, and on top of that, they have encouraged their shoppers to join in. They’ve brought low-budget cosplay to a new light – cosplaying as IKEA products!
Who ever knew this was actually a thing? Then again, it’s Japan we’re talking about here, so we probably shouldn’t be surprised.
The cycling race known as the Good Smile Racing (GSR) Cup, took place this past Saturday (9/6) at the New Tokyo Circuit in Chiba Prefecture. As the official website for the event proclaims, “Bike racing while listening to anime songs, eating food, then back to racing! It’s an event for anyone who loves characters and bikes.” That sounds like a fun time to us! Check out pictures of a bike-riding Hatsune Miku and other costumes from the race after the jump.
Back in May, cosplay manufacturer Cospa released a real-life version of the eye-catching Hawaiian shirt worn by Dragon Ball’s martial arts master, Kame Sennin. But while that was perfect for the warm months of summer, it’s now time for fans of Dragon Ball to put away their beachwear. With the harsher temperatures of autumn coming, the only sensible thing to do is to change into warmer attire, like the soon-to-be-available outfit of the hero of the fifth installment of Dragon Quest, the other hit franchise artist Akira Toriyama serves as character designer for.
The currently streaming Sailor Moon reboot, Sailor Moon Crystal, has sort of an unusual schedule. Rather than showing a new episode every week, like most anime series, a new installment of Crystal is released on the first and third Saturday of every month.
It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean viewers get a new episode every other week. This year, August had five Saturdays, meaning that at one point there was a three-week gap between episodes. We’re sure hard-core fans were miffed, but we think sponsor Bandai will be able to smooth things over and make everyone forget about the inconvenience by opening preorders for its newest batch of merchandise, the second round of Sailor Moon lingerie sets, featuring colors for every member of the main cast.
A few weeks ago, a handful of motorists in Chiba Prefecture witnessed a sight few of us will ever be fortunate enough to see: a man dressed as Batman riding a customized trike, speeding down the expressway. Chibatman, as he soon came to be known, quickly caught the attention of not only comic fans around the world, but also the local police, who recently called the Caped Crusader in for a little chat.
On display at last month’s Otakon anime convention, this incredible feat of cosplay blurs the line between outfit and scale model, with the wearer requiring a small team to help them put it on.
As a car-loving foreigner living in Japan, for me, any cruise around Tokyo can suddenly turn into an automotive photo safari. Japan has tons of cool domestic cars which were never exported to the U.S., and whenever I come across one in the wild, I feel the need to whip out my camera for a few photos.
But while I’m happy my photo collection includes snapshots of Mazda AZ-1s and Subaru 22B Imprezas, motorists in Chiba Prefecture recently spotted something even rarer, in the form of a street-legal trike being ridden by none other than Batman!
Twice a year otaku from all over Japan, and even the world, make the sacred pilgrimage to Tokyo Big Sight for Comic Market, better known as Comiket. Every year as I stand in the boiling heat or the freezing cold I ask myself ‘Why am I doing this?’, and yet there I am again the same time next year. It’s an almost masochistic experience, but the pleasure and limited-edition merch gained always outweighs the pain. Read on for photos and commentary from Summer Comiket 86.
It’s that time of the year again! Comiket, the world’s largest dōjinshi fair that’s held twice per year, is currently in full swing again at Tokyo Big Sight on Odaiba, the artificial island located in Tokyo Bay. Manga fans from around the world are lining up in droves and enduring hour-long waits in the hot sun just to get into the exhibition rooms that are jam-packed with merchandise.
Naturally, a comic festival as big as Comiket draws a ton of cosplayers, and while there are some truly impressive costumes out there, there are some other, shall we say, more unusual sights to be seen. Take the above picture, for example–what on earth is happening here??
I can only imagine what it would be like for a tourist from some far off country to inadvertently disembark in the United States right in time for the Halloween holiday. Stepping off the plane to be surrounded by blood-covered nurses, mad scientists and cackling witchcraft wielders would be extremely traumatizing for someone not specifically told that people are going to be walking around in costume like it’s no big deal.
Well, now I sort of have an idea of what that might feel like now that I’ve watched this YouTube video of a Taiwanese bus company that decided to replace its bus driver with a creepy zombie for Taiwan’s annual Hungry Ghost Festival.
LadyBeard is certainly making a name for himself in Japan. RocketNews24 has covered some of his antics before, here and here. His popularity in Japan continues to grow and grow as evidenced by his Twitter account which has almost 45,000 followers! One of his latest tweets has been shared across the twitterverse over 1,000 times! What in the world could this be about? The answers and more, so much more, after the break!
With schools in both Japan and abroad on summer vacation, we’re right in the prime seasons for pop culture events like San Diego Comic-Con and Chiba Prefecture’s Wonder Festival. We recently attended both, snapping pictures of all the cool cosplay costumes, but the hobby’s most prestigious gathering was yet to come.
Last weekend the 2014 World Cosplay Summit was held in the city of Nagoya. Our own cosplay efforts aren’t quite competition-level, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy all the awesome costumes that were, so we grabbed our camera and hopped on the Shinkansen.
We recently made the trip across the Pacific to Comic-Con in San Diego, where we checked out the newest titles from the exhibitors and the costumes made by their fans. Our traveling reporter Yoshio even decided to join in and dress up too.
San Diego wasn’t the only place to see some cool cosplay last weekend, though. Back here in Japan, the summer Wonder Festival, the world’s largest model and figure exhibition, was going on, so we headed over to the Makuhari Messe convention center to photograph the amazing costumes.
Our Japanese correspondent Yoshio recently made the trip for Tokyo to San Diego to attend Comic-Con for the first time. After seeing all the fans in costume showing their enthusiasm for their favorite series, Yoshio got bitten by the cosplay bug and decided to dress up too.
But which character to cosplay as? He knew he wanted someone Japanese, to represent his home country. Someone strong and just, with a kind heart. And while he was at it, why not add long, flowing hair and miniskirt to the checklist?
In other words, Yoshio spent a day at Comic-Con rocking a Sailor Venus outfit.
Our Japanese reporter Yoshio is currently attending his first ever Comic-Con in San Diego. After completing such epic quests as flying across the Pacific and finding a parking spot near the Convention Center, he’s been enjoying Preview Night plus the first two days of the show.
But while Comic-Con is the world’s biggest celebration of comics, animation, movies, video games, and all other sorts of 2-D fiction, Yoshio’s been blown away by something very real and three-dimensional: all of the amazing cosplayers!
Here at RocketNews24, we often send our English-speaking staff out to cover events and places of interest related to Japanese animation and movies. This week, though, we’re pulling a 180 by sending one of our Japanese language reporters, Yoshio, to Comic-Con in San Diego.
Yoshio completed Phase One of his mission with no problems by successfully flying the 10 hours from Tokyo to California. Next on his list of objectives: a blow-by-blow report of Comic-Con’s preview night.
Pokémon Center Online designates first Pokémon items that will require Japanese ID card to buy
Japanese vending machine sells freshly squeezed lemon juice with a futuristic light show
Pokémon comes to McDonald’s Japan for new Happy Meals toys, brings every generation’s starters
Air-conditioned dress shirts arrive in Japan to save working professionals from sweltering heat
Tokyo’s Haneda Airport airlines announce stricter luggage check-in deadline for domestic flights
Toyota Museum’s international retro vehicle parade returns to Aichi this autumn
Yoshinoya gets into fancy fish, but is the cheap beef king reaching too far? [Taste test]
Is covering your entire upper body with cooling strips enough to fend off Japan’s summer heat?
7-Eleven Japan rethinks convenience store sandwiches with a wild new choc-mint variety
Coco’s Japan is very confident in their chilled ramen, but should they be? [Taste test]Air-conditioned dress shirts arrive in Japan to save working professionals from sweltering heat
Tokyo’s newest viral dessert is like a Japanese parfait inside a bread bun [Taste test]Japanese vending machine sells freshly squeezed lemon juice with a futuristic light showPokémon Center Online designates first Pokémon items that will require Japanese ID card to buy
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever gacha capsule toys, featuring iconic menu items as plush coffee charms
7-Eleven Japan adds new chocolate fruit gummies to its sweets range, but are they worth the hype?
7-Eleven Japan now offering baked-in-store pizza by the slice with two very different topping sets
Starbucks Japan opens new store inside historic seaside quarantine station near Tokyo
Studio Ghibli’s No Face twirls to sound of Spirited Away’s theme song in beautiful accessory box
Live-action Princess Mononoke is coming to streaming as a live event, previews look amazing [Video]
Studio Ghibli has a new anime out, and there’s only one place in the world where you can see it
Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
Japan now has human refrigerators inspired by Japanese vending machines
Hatsune Miku collaborates with Hokusai’s art in new Vocaloid ukiyo-e illustration series [Pics]
New Shinkansen luggage drop-off system begins in Japan, making train travel even easier
Studio Ghibli releases anime T-shirts that pay homage to one of Hayao Miyazaki’s most personal films
Family Mart opens new “Famima” flagship store in Tokyo that’s like a tourist attractionAir-conditioned dress shirts arrive in Japan to save working professionals from sweltering heat
Uniqlo looks back to the very start of Pokémon with new black-and-white pixel art T-shirts[Pics]
Japanese Shinkansen becomes an overnight hotel for three nights this summer
Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in TokyoStudio Ghibli has a new anime out, and there’s only one place in the world where you can see it
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad
Salomon releases Japan-exclusive Mt. Fuji hiking gear that doubles as an amazing souvenir
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
Toyota Museum’s international retro vehicle parade returns to Aichi this autumn
Yoshinoya gets into fancy fish, but is the cheap beef king reaching too far? [Taste test]
Is covering your entire upper body with cooling strips enough to fend off Japan’s summer heat?
7-Eleven Japan rethinks convenience store sandwiches with a wild new choc-mint variety
Coco’s Japan is very confident in their chilled ramen, but should they be? [Taste test]
Studio Ghibli’s No Face twirls to sound of Spirited Away’s theme song in beautiful accessory box
Sanrio characters join forces with your favorite Japanese snack mascots as prizes at Family Mart
U.S. government reportedly planning to close Nagoya consulate
Japan’s favorite popsicles add multilingual packaging to better connect with foreign tourists
Sweet dreams are made of cheese at this all-you-can-eat cheese and doria restaurant
7-Eleven Japan adds new chocolate fruit gummies to its sweets range, but are they worth the hype?
Akita Kanto Festival, one of Japan’s most spectacular summer festivals, gets an anime twist this year
Japan’s Super Volunteer, 86-year-old Haruo Obata, heads to the Kumamoto earthquake site
Live-action Princess Mononoke is coming to streaming as a live event, previews look amazing [Video]