During the COVID 19 pandemic the Japan Foundation New York has been hosting a very interesting series of talks on Japanese Popular Culture through their YouTube channel. The topics of these discussions range from the manga industry to anime music as well as video games and Godzilla among many others. I had a chance to talk about cosplay related topics with an amazing panel of guests. Here is a link to that discussion:
Frenchy Lunning introduced the early days of cosplay and themes discussed in her recent publication, "Cosplay: The Fictional Mode of Existence". Akiko Sugawa-Shimada presented on gender roles and crossplay; a theme which is very common in cosplay circles. Diana Tolin talked about her deep knowledge in cosplay activities in the US and around the world. My own discussion was on the early days of cosplay in Japan through anime magazines and how cosplayers were dealing with lockdown during the pandemic.
From the 48:50 mark of the video we have free discussion and answer a number of questions from the online audience or those prepared by for us by the Japan Foundation through their website. Please enjoy!
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