Pop Culture in Japan- Cosplay

On regular intervals, the Kyoto International Manga Museum holds cosplay events in its outdoor plaza. I took these photos on one such afternoon. I apologise for the poor image quality, as I had just bought my cameraphone and had not become fully aquainted with how to use it properly.

Below is a small sampling of photos from the event, for the full set please visit my Flickr page. There is also a larger set of of American cosplayers I took at MegaCon in Florida. It is worth noting here that American cosplayers are far more willing to appear in public with low grade hand made costumes than Japanese cosplayers.

Scenes from the Kyoto Manga Museum:

American Cosplayer VS Japanese Cosplayers. (top: America, bottom: Japan)

The Images below are from the famous "Jidai Matsuri" festival held in Kyoto every year. "Jidai" refers to the various periods in Japanese history. The festival consists of a historical costume parade. Is it possile this could be considered another more sophisticated form of cosplay?

Jidai Matsuri pictures from user nobuflickr via flickr.com

Click here to find more great pictures from "Jidai Matsuri" as well as other scenes from Japan.

Click here for more cosplay shots from The Manga Museum and Mega Con.

*Note it is worth noting that of the over 1,400 photos on my Flick page, this cosplay photo is my top photo for views, number of times favorited by other members, and number of comments.