ABSTRACT
Since 2003, the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) has been held annually in Nagoya, Japan. With forty active participant countries, it is one of the largest and longest-running international cosplay competitions and has been likened to the Olympics. The event brings together people from diverse backgrounds who are fans of cosplay and Japanese popular culture, and the act of cosplay thus becomes a means for communication surpassing linguistic and other boundaries. This chapter provides a brief introduction to cosplay using the model of international competition and skit cosplay showcased at the WCS. It asks: Can the fan activity of dressing up really overcome borders and barriers? In addition to using scholarly research in English and Japanese in the emerging field of cosplay studies, this chapter draws on personal experience as a volunteer at the WCS events in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021, accounts from cosplayers published in traditional and social media and from questionnaires conducted by the WCS.
