tokyo gameshow 09 東京ゲームショウ (Makuhari Messe)

Posted by timothy sullivan (Tokyo, Japan) on 30 September 2009 in People & Portrait.

As we chat on the train about the Tokyo Game Show, my friend F chuckles: "I don't really go for the games; I go for the people." And as we head out of Keihin Makuhari Station and head toward the convention center, I'm still contemplating his words.

"You mean it's like the cosplay girls and anime fans in Harajuku or something?" I ask.

"Well- -something like that. People basically are waiting all year for this show; they have plenty of time to buy things for their costumes, and take everything really seriously. Like, Yuna or Rikku from Final Fantasy- -they have to looks just like them. It's pretty wild."

I mull this over in my head; my perception is that Japanese gamers indeed can get pretty into the games they play- -and indeed seem to relish in blurring that line between the virtuality of the gaming universe and reality by dressing as the flesh analogue to their own avatars. Walking around Harajuku or Shibuya on the weekend and seeing the guys and girls dressed up in goth, emo, or animal/manga character costumes has definitely demonstrated this. But the game show definitely raises the bar: it's Christmas for gamers, anime lovers, and Japanese cosplay- -when people must don their very best and head off to worship what the technology gods have birthed.

vfxy Photoblogs | Listed on Photoblogs.org