World Cosplay Summit 2025: Costumes and camaraderie

Despite the scorching heat of August, cosplayers from all over Japan and the world gathered for the World Cosplay Summit 2025 dressed in their favorite costumes. Its various programs included a cosplay parade, a red-carpet ceremony, an exhibition and performances, drawing about 247,000 visitors between Aug. 1 and 3.

The event culminated in the World Cosplay Championship, held at the Aichi Arts Center’s main hall on the last day. In this annual contest, teams of two cosplayers representing participating countries perform. This year, representatives from 42 countries, including five new ones, competed to be crowned the world’s best cosplayers. The spectators, many also dressed in costumes, waved penlights and cheered on the competitors.

This year’s grand prize and the Foreign Minister’s Prize were awarded to the American team, We Need Disguises Cosplay, who dressed as Alcryst and Hortensia from the tactical role-playing game Fire Emblem Engage. The team will also be invited to the World Cosplay Championship 2026 as guest judges.

The second-place prize went to the French team, who played characters from the Japanese manga series Witch Hat Atelier, and third place went to the Brazilian team, who dressed up as characters from the horror game Biohazard Village.

Eight special awards were presented for other outstanding aspects of their performances, such as action and the use of gimmicks and technology.

Characters being cosplayed in the competition must come from Japanese manga, anime, games or tokusatsu (Japanese television dramas using special effects), and costumes have to be handmade.

Costumes and performances were judged separately, each with a maximum score of 100 points. The costume judging was conducted in advance by event organizers. The winners were determined based on their total scores for costumes and performances.

In the performance judging, each team was given two and a half minutes to perform based on an original script or a scene from a work they had chosen. Every skit was met with loud applause from the audience, and offstage teams from different countries cheered for and praised each other.

In between performances, there were live online interactions connecting the audience with fans watching at viewing events in countries like Brazil, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic.

This performance judges included voice actor Toshio Furukawa, kabuki actors Onoe Kikugoro VIII and his son Onoe Kikunosuke VI, director and animator Park Sunghoo, journalist Tadashi Sudo, composer Akira Yamaoka, creator D japanese and last year’s champions, Mioshi and Mamemayo.

Kikugoro VIII shared his thoughts on the similarities between cosplay and kabuki in his comments, saying, “About 400 years ago, people known as kabukimono, who dressed in eccentric and stylish costumes, were expressing their spirit of ‘loving oneself’ through their inner inspiration and creativity, without looking askance at the world. This is the very same spirit that is shared with cosplay, which is the act of giving form to one’s own passion.” He noted that the cosplayers from around the world who had gathered at the venue also cherish their inner selves, love themselves and breathe life into their expressions.

He also celebrated the spirit of accepting diversity shared by the participants and audience, comparing it to the Japanese concept of 8 million gods, which holds that gods dwell in all things in the universe. “The cosplay event is a celebration of peace, and I am honored to be part of it with all of you,” he said.

Eleven-year-old Kikunosuke VI commented, “It is truly inspiring that all of these costumes are handcrafted, and I am immersed in the world of each team’s performance.”

The presence of two kabuki actors symbolized how the inspiring exchanges at the event transcended the boundaries between traditional arts and contemporary culture.

At the award ceremony, the American team erupted with joy and exclaimed: “We’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time! Dreams can come true if you just keep pushing.” They also praised the other cosplayers in the competition, saying that they were all amazing and that cosplay is a wonderful culture, and expressed heartfelt thanks to their friends for their support.