Cosplayers (L) gather at the Osu Kannon temple before the Osu Cosplay Parade
Shawn, like her sister Whitney dressed as a character from Demon Slayer, had two words to describe the weather as she waited to watch the grand parade at Japan’s annual World Cosplay Summit: “Extremely hot”.
“I have had about five of these (bottles of water). I have on full sleeves, socks and whoo! When we first came outside we were just drenched in sweat”, the Houston, Texas native said at the event in Nagoya.
But relief is coming for the more than 250,000 people from around the world who attend the WCS each year to embody characters from manga, animation and video games.
From next year, the three-day event in the central Japanese city will move to November, bringing more pleasant autumn temperatures instead of the oppressive 40C (104F) forecast for this year’s final day.
Cosplayers take part in the Osu Cosplay Parade
“Since around the end of the COVID pandemic, Japan has been getting increasingly warmer”, said Tokumaru Oguri, chief executive of the WCS.
“The heat can genuinely put people’s lives at risk”, Oguri said, urging participants to take precautions, get enough sleep and stay hydrated.
A Japanese journalist coined the term “cosplay”, combining “costume” and “play”, in 1984 after seeing people dressed as monsters and aliens at a science-fiction convention in Los Angeles.
The concept later exploded in Japan before becoming a global phenomenon in the 1990s and 2000s.
Today, cosplayers portray characters from movies, series, comics, fantasy and video games, while others embody fast-food brands, internet browsers, memes and even intangible ideas such as gravity or hunger.
Cosplayers gather at the Osu Shopping Street before the Osu Cosplay Parade
Scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events in Japan. The country recorded its hottest summer on record last year, while many areas have recently experienced “kokushobi”, a new official classification for “cruelly hot days”.
The extreme temperatures are also forcing cosplayers to adapt their costumes.
“Orena”, 40, from France, chose linen and cotton for her Haku costume from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away to keep cool.
“At major competitions such as the World Cosplay Summit, people tend to want to wear costumes that involve a certain level of technical complexity and often have several layers”, she said.
“When it gets hot, there comes a point when you cannot take off any more layers”. For other participants, comfort has become essential
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