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Japan is proud to have manga as one part
of its culture. With its immeasurable popularity all over
Europe, America and Asia, it is now usual for bookstores
to have a manga corner in many countries around the world.
At present, many young people overseas start learning
about Japan through manga. These young people who know
Japan from manga say… |
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In response to this popularity, many events
with Japanese manga as a common concept, have gained notoriety
with thousands of people involved and tens to hundreds
of thousands of guests. In many of these events the performance
and presentation of cosplayers who identify with Japanese
animation characters is among the most anticipated moments.
The World Cosplay Summit began in the fall of 2003, with
the concept that cosplayers play a leading role in introducing
Japanese manga and animation through the visual renderings
of Japan and Japanese manga characters to people around
the world. At the same time, it is also partly for people
in Japan, so as not to take for granted the treasured
things that exist around us.
In the summer of 2004, the second World Cosplay Summit
was held, with eight cosplayers from Italy, Germany, France
and the United States participating, garnering much media
attention.
Beginning in 2005, ‘the stage performance’ was incorporated
into the format of the contest and forty cosplayers from
seven countries competed in a contest held at the Expo
Dome at the World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture. The
three thousand seats at the Expo Dome were completely
filled, and more than thirty domestic and international
media outlets were present.
The World Cosplay Summit 2006 was the fourth to be held,
with cosplayers from Singapore, Thailand and Brazil joining
to make a record total of nine countries competing. Along
with the Osu Kannon parade, the Oasis 21 venue in central
Nagoya was also used for the presentation of the 2nd annual
World Cosplay Championships.
A press conference was held in Akihabara, Tokyo, and there
were even more media attention than the previous year.
And now on to 2007, and the World Cosplay Summit is progressing
further towards new objectives. |
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