Cosplay

Japanese teens dressed up in Cosplay outfits.








Cosplay is short for costume play. It's when Japanese teenagers dress up in outfits from anime, video games, and fantasy movies. Most of the cosplay costumes look like ones worn on Halloween but are worn throughout the year in Japan.

A popular place to see teens in cosplay outfits is on Harajuku St., which is where most of the costumes are sold.

Cosplay started when young Japanese went to low-budget clothing stores and bought odd clothing and wore them. Then it was made into a fashion, high design stores started selling these costumes all over Japan. There are even cosplay magazines.

When going down Harajuku St. (at Omoto-sando station) you see many photographers taking pictures of cosplay girls.

The best thing about cosplay in Japan is that fashion starts there!