Japan’s Anime Diplomacy in Full Play in Nagoya

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The World Cosplay Summit 2016 in the Holy Land Of Manga Proclaimed Indonesia As A New Champion[edit]

August 11th, 2016

Anastasija Baranovska, CD News

The ‘World Cosplay Championship 2016’, held in Nagoya, Japan, has a new world champion. The 2016 winner is the team from Indonesia with a performance from “Trinity Blood”. Denmark took 2nd place with a performance from “The Angel of Elhalmburg”. The 3rd place was given to France, for its performance from “Love Live! School Idol Festival”.

The "Cosplay" is one of the modes of Japan’s cultural diplomacy that is successfully implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan of late. It enjoys strong international popularity in recent years. Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been conferring a Foreign Minister's Prize for the best costume-player in "the World Cosplay Summit", the biggest annual Cosplay event in Japan, since 2007. Cosplay is part of the Otaku culture, and Manga.

Japan's Manga and Anime culture have been influencing various people worldwide. They were not satisfied by just "reading" and "watching" but instead wanted to "be the characters and act as them". As a result, the Cosplay culture was born.

The World Cosplay Summit began in 2003 in Nagoya Japan to create a new sense of international friendship with cosplayers from all over the world. Year after year, the number of participating countries has been increasing. In 2012, the number grew to 20 countries. Now, many cosplayers from around the world aim to get to the Cosplay Holy Land; namely Nagoya, Japan.

The ‘World Cosplay Summit’ is the world’s largest cosplay event. It’s acquired official status among cosplay enthusiasts, with 2016 being its 14th consecutive year. With over 30 countries participating in the event, this event is like the Olympic Games for cosplay. This year, India, Switzerland, Canada, and Sweden joined the party, and for a whole week (July 30 – August 7) cosplay fans had the chance to see some of the most elaborate costumes ever created. The World Cosplay Championship was held during the last day of the Summit. Last year’s winners Mexico, tried to protect their title but in the end it was Rian Cahyadi and Marchella from the Indonesian team that won the championship.

The World Cosplay Championship is where representatives from each country display their best performances on stage. The judges don’t just judge the quality of participants' costumes but also the art direction and overall performance. It is the ultimate world championship of the Cosplay. The final parade took place in Osu, Nagoya, where the World Cosplay Summit was born.

It is to be pointed out that Japan’s anime diplomacy is a part of Japan’s cultural diplomacy. Realized by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan is nothing but a successful unique way of communicating the image of a modern, forward-leaning and culturally advanced country to the whole world.

References:[edit]

See more at: http://www.cd-n.org/index.php?japans-anime-diplomacy-in-full-play-in-nagoya