My First Cosplay Event In Japan
As I teased in my last article, my unexpected invitation ended up being twofold! The second part was taking part in a cosplay meetup at Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, called Acosta. I might have worn a cosplay costume for Halloween, but this was the big leagues.
The Spring Equinox, when day and night are about the same length, and the first day of Spring, is a holiday here in Japan. This year, it fell on a Thursday, which would normally leave me with a slightly awkward, but nice holiday spent hanging around the house. Thanks to an unexpected invitation, instead I would be heading into Tokyo for a cosplay event.
We arranged to meet at Moriya station at 8:24 and head into Tokyo together. It felt a little specific, and a little early for my tastes, but I figured they had a better impression of how early we needed to arrive, and had a plan to get there. Unfortunately, my tendency to be late meant I got up to the platform just as the train was leaving the station.
They didn’t seem to hold this against me though, and we grabbed the next train and started our journey. I felt a little awkward, and tried to make a bit of conversation. It was early in the morning though, and before long they started nodding off. I put in my headphones and did my best to stay awake, just in case they didn’t hear our stop.
We got off, transferred trains, went a few stops, and transferred yet again. At the final stop we started walking towards Sunshine City with a suitcase in tow. Unlike in the west, it’s common for participants to get changed at the event, rather than at home. This was probably my favorite difference between events back in Vancouver.
Taking public transit in full costume always gets funny looks, most people don’t realize there’s an event, and until you’re close, you’re usually the only one in cosplay. My first time in cosplay I was already pretty nervous, adding being on public transit completely out of context really didn’t help.
It took us a bit of time to find the entrance into Sunshine City, but once we did, we were greeted with a line of people waiting just to get into the elevator. Coming early suddenly felt completely warranted, and also began to clue me in that the scale of this event was going to be pretty different than what I was used to.
After a mix-up with the early ticket line, we found the right one—already long despite being 40 minutes early. I took a moment to find the smoking room and ground myself before things started moving. When I came back the other teacher wanted to use the restroom, but a staff member informed them that the line would begin moving soon.
I felt a little bad, but there was also no way I could have known the line was about to start moving. Eventually we began to move, but it would still be about another hour before we got inside the event space and up to the changing room. The staff was incredibly efficient, but there were just that many people.
The change room was just a big room with tarps down on the floor. Most people just brought a suitcase, but others had all kinds of boxes to keep their wigs in perfect condition. The other teacher had a spare costume they were willing to lend me, so we would be cosplaying Jinshi and MaoMao from Apothecary Diaries.
I’d been watching the show after it caught some buzz, and it’s currently still airing, so it seemed like it could be a popular choice. Jinshi might not be a character I would normally go for, but I was perfectly happy to cosplay as him given the chance. I started to put on the different pieces of the costume, it was a little big, but I thought it looked good.
Once I got to the sash though, things got a bit tricky. It used velcro to attach itself at the waist, but it was far too big and wouldn’t stay up. I thought about trying to fold it up a little and pin it, but I didn’t have a bobby pin or a safety pin handy. In the end, rather than use the velcro I tied it in a knot to secure it.
Thankfully, there was extra fabric that you would use to create another knot just for the visuals, which let me hide the much clumsier knot underneath. After finding a workable solution, I breathed a big sigh of relief. It gave the slightly too big robes some much needed shape, and created a focal point for the costume.
The wig would prove to be a bit of a nemesis, as the day went on it gave me a pretty bad headache. I’d never worn a long wig before, so keeping the hair in the right style, and having the pressure be even across my head was tricky. My forehead seemed to take the brunt of the weight and by the end it was getting a bit painful.
All in all, I think it was a pretty solid cosplay! For a borrowed costume from someone else I think it was quite successful. After we both got ready, we stored the suitcase, headed back outside. People were milling around decked out in cosplay, and some people had set up little stations for people to photograph them.
There were tons of really high quality costumes, and it was quite the visual treat. There were a lot of characters I didn’t recognize, which felt pretty unusual compared to Vancouver. Vancouver events were usually the most popular characters, and just a few more niche cosplays. Here it felt like the opposite, and it took me a while to find characters from the bigger franchises.
Events in Vancouver are more like a convention, with plenty of booths set up, events taking place in different rooms, and a proper schedule. This felt a bit more free form, and seemed pretty focused on photos. From what I gathered, cosplayers would pick a spot, and photographers could come and take pictures, sometimes resulting in rather long lines.
There was a lot of equipment involved too, and for some people it looked like a full photoshoot. I have to say, I think I like Vancouver convention style events a bit better. I couldn’t help but feel like this event was a little more about chasing clout than anything. Though when I wasn’t being cynical, it was still really fun.
Together we wandered around, got lunch, and enjoyed people watching. My companion would ask other cosplayers for photos when they found one they really liked. I’ve never been huge on taking photos of other cosplayers, I never know what I’d do with them, I prefer to enjoy it with my own eyes. Two different groups asked for photos of us though, which was flattering.
As an event, there really wasn’t that much to do. There were two main areas, indoor and outdoor, but they were really just big photo spaces. On the map they marked locations where you could go, but those were just normal stores you might get a slight discount for going in cosplay.
In some ways, it just felt like an excuse to wander around Tokyo in cosplay with friends and snap some good pictures. It was a very different experience than ones I’ve had in Vancouver, and I can see the appeal of both options. We spent several hours mostly milling about the event, before deciding to pack it in.
It felt good to be free of my costume, and especially the wig. We stopped for dinner on our way back, and I took the chance to really thank the other teacher for the invitation. It had been a really special experience, and certainly not one I would have had on my own.
Going to a cosplay event in Japan wasn’t something I had even considered until I got this invitation. Saying yes to something unexpected led to a day that I’m sure I’ll remember for a long time. After all, you never forget a first.
