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Connecting Japanese Culture to a Worldwide Audience
8.9.2024
Japanese culture captivates millions around the world, but the creators behind its art often remain inaccessible. With 8Ships, Terry Tomonaga is changing that. 8Ships Is Connecting Japan’s Artists, Artisans, and Craftmen to a Global Audience 8Ships’ mission is to connect people all over...
Our Favorite Cosplay From Dreamhack Melbourne 2023
23.6.2023
From Comic-Con to C2E2, the vast majority of cosplay coverage you see on this website comes from American conventions. Which is fine! This is an American website, many of the world’s biggest shows are in the US and our intrepid cosplay photographer Mineralblu is also American.Read more
Our Favorite Cosplay From Yeticon 2022
4.7.2022
In case you’ve never seen our coverage of the event before, Yeticon isn’t like most other cosplay shows. Instead of taking place in a convention centre in a big American city, it’s held at the Blue Mountain Resort in Ontario, Canada, which means our gallery is swapping hotel carpet backdrops...
BOSO TOKYO Looks to Bring Japanese Culture to the World via Innovative Use of Metaverse Capabilities
21.6.2022
Everyone would agree that the DeFi industry is absolutely booming right now, and for good reason. After all, there is an abundance of technological innovation right now through aspects such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, P2E games, blockchain, and most recently the metaverse. With that being said,...
Our Favorite Cosplay From MomoCon 2022
17.6.2022
The 2022 edition of MomoCon was held a couple of weeks ago in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center. MomoCon is neat because not only is it a big nerd show in general (over 40,000 people attended this year’s event), with cosplay and merch and celebrities, but there’s also a major gaming...
Anime Expo Drops Attendee Vax Proof, Negative Covid Test Requirements
9.6.2022
Today, Anime Expo, the “largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America” announced an update to its covid health and safety protocols that disappointed many voice actors, cosplayers, and artists alike.Read more
Our Favorite Cosplay From Romics 2022
27.4.2022
With cosplay shows finally making a comeback not just in the US but internationally as well, we’re once again going to take a trip overseas and take Kotaku’s first ever look at Romics, a big convention that’s been running in the Italian capital for over 20 years now.Read more
Let's Revisit A 1995 Anime Convention
14.4.2022
Anime and/or cosplay cons are now so commonplace you can find them in cities big and small across America, but in 1995 people’s options for sharing their interests (and buying associated merch) were a lot more limited.Read more
Our Favorite Cosplay From Japan Expo 2022
29.3.2022
With most of the scene having been shut down during the pandemic, and major shows only just starting to make their way back into the lineup, it’s lovely to be able to turn our attention internationally once again with this feature on Japan Expo 2022, which was held in Bangkok a few months back.Read...
Our Favorite Cosplay From Katsucon 2022
8.3.2022
Like so much else over the past couple of years, the pandemic hit the cosplay scene hard, shutting down the conventions that are in so many ways the lifeblood of the community. But after getting things back on track last December with Dragon Con, I’m super pumped to now be presenting our first...
Popular Virtual YouTuber's Contract Terminated For Allegedly Leaking Private Info
25.2.2022
VTuber (Virtual YouTuber) agency Hololive Production has nixed its agreement with popular virtual streamer Uruha Rushia for allegedly violating her contract and leaking private information.Read more
'It Seems Like A Prison,' And Other Online Reactions To Nintendo's Headquarters
23.2.2022
If you’ve been to Kyoto, you might have made the journey out to Nintendo’s headquarters—well, at least, to stand outside the gates.Read more
Pachinko Is Not Doing Well In Japan
31.1.2022
Japan’s pachinko industry, a bulwark in the country’s amusement industry, has been hit hard during the pandemic. According to pachinko news site Green Belt, nearly 640 pachinko parlors closed in 2021. As of December 2021, there were 7,637 pachinko parlors affiliated with the Japan Amusement...
Where Japan's Most Famous Cosplayer Keeps Her Costumes
11.1.2022
Enako, Japan’s most famous and successful cosplayer, has a whole bunch of costumes. How many? An entire storage room full of them.Read more
Please Tell Me! Galko-chan Manga Creator Arrested Over Child Pornography
20.12.2021
Japanese police have arrested 40-year-old manga creator Kenya Suzuki on suspicion of importing child pornography, violating the country’s laws about importing banned goods. Read more
Billionaire Goes To Space And Reviews A Manga
16.12.2021
Yusaku Maezawa, the billionaire who founded Japanese internet fashion retail site Zozotown, is the first space tourist to visit the International Space Station in a decade. The entrepreneur told AP that his self-funded trip “pretty much” cost over $80 million. While in space, he’s done a PR stunt...
Japan's Manga Piracy Crackdown Continues
16.11.2021
In 2019, there was a global manhunt for the manager of manga piracy site Manga-Mura. The manager, a Japanese citizen named Romi Hoshino, was arrested in Manila on copyright violation charges. In June 2021, he was found guilty, sentenced, and fined. If you thought that was the end of Japan’s piracy...
A Second Nintendo Store Is Opening In Japan
5.11.2021
While you’d think Nintendo would have a slew of official shops in Japan, the Kyoto-based game company only has one. Located in Tokyo, the store, cleverly called Nintendo Tokyo, opened in November 2019. But that is going to change because now, in November 2021, Nintendo has announced a second one....
Cosplayer Simply Becomes Angelina Jolie
1.11.2021
I’ve featured the work of Alyson Tabbitha a bunch of times here on Kotaku, because she’s just the best. Her make-up work is transformative, and in the past she has shape-shifted into everyone from Wonder Woman to Jack Sparrow to Leeloo Dallas.Read more
Genshin Impact's Latest Update Shows MiHoYo's Deep Respect For Japanese Culture
19.10.2021
Genshin Impact’s Inazuma region is based on Japan. The country’s culture can be incredibly complex. Whether that’s sakura or swords, it’s easy to not get things quite right. MiHoYo’s decision to push through a subtle fix underscoring those nuances is impressing Japanese players. Before the update...