World Cosplay Summit

The World Cosplay Summit (世界コスプレサミット, Sekai Kosupure Samitto WCS) is an annual international cosplay event, which promotes global interaction through Japanese pop culture. It developed from a cosplay exhibition held at the Aichi Expo in 2005.
The WCS incorporated in 2012, by which time it had grown to include two weeks of activities, chief of which are a parade and championship held in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, on Saturday and Sunday of the first weekend of August. Other related events are held in the Kanto, Kansai, and Tokai regions. Competitors are drawn from partnering anime/manga events held in the respective countries and regions.
The summit was organized by broadcaster TV Aichi until 2012. It is supported by several city organizations, businesses, the WCS student volunteer organization Omotenashi, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT), and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Japanese embassy representatives often attend preliminaries of events in foreign countries. The WCS relies heavily on corporate sponsorship rather than ticket sales to fund its activities.
The first World Cosplay Summit was held in 2003 to highlight the international popularity of Japanese anime and manga through cosplay (costume play). It was subsequently held as part of Expo 2005 in Nagoya, where it gathered considerable media attention. The event grew to include participants from 40 countries and encompasses multiple activities including the Osu Cosplay Parade and the Cosplay Championship.
On October 12, 2003, the first event was held at the Rose Court Hotel in Nagoya. Activities included a panel discussion and photography session. Five cosplayers were invited from Germany, France and Italy; "International Common Language" (MANGAは世界の共通語), a television programme dealing with the contemporary situation of anime and manga in Frankfurt, Paris and Rome, was produced and broadcast on November 24.
The 2004 event was held on August 1 at the Ōsu shopping district in Naka-ku, Nagoya. Eight international cosplayers were invited, and about 100 cosplayers participated in the inaugural Osu Cosplay Parade.
In 2005, the WCS was reorganized from an invitation-based system to a qualifying system with preliminary events held around the world, leading to the first WCS Cosplay Championship. Four cosplayers in single and group teams represented participating countries. Along with supporting activities, the event took place in two main locations: the Cosplay Parade was held in Osu on July 31 and the Cosplay Championship was held at the Expo Dome on August 7 during Expo 2005. 40 people from seven countries participated in the first Cosplay Championship, with France winning the group category, Italy winning the individual category, and with the overall contest winner being Italy. The initial goal of the event was to bring a part of Japanese youth culture to Expo 2005.
In 2006, the venue for the Cosplay Championship was moved to Oasis 21 in Sakae, Nagoya. Nine countries competed: Italy, Germany, France, Spain, China, Brazil, Thailand, Singapore and Japan, with a total of 22 cosplayers. The grand prize was won by brother-and-sister team Maurisio and Monica Somenzari L. Olivas, representing Brazil. (Dressed respectively as Hughes de Watteau and Augusta Vradica from Trinity Blood, they made their costumes by hand with help from their parents.) The event was supported by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT). Over 5,000 people attended the Cosplay Championship stage event and several thousand more attended the Cosplay Parade. TV Aichi produced and broadcast, "World Cosplay Summit 2006: New Challengers".
In 2007, Denmark, Mexico and South Korea joined the event to bring the number of participating countries to 12, with a total of 28 participating cosplayers. About 10,000 people attended the Cosplay Championship. "World Cosplay Summit 2007: Giza-suge yatsura ga yattekita Z!" (The Super Cool Have Arrived!) was televised, and became a part of MLIT's 2007 "Visit Japan" campaign.
In 2008, with growing recognition of Japan's otaku culture, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) became the third national ministry to join in official support of the event. About 300 cosplayers participated in the Parade. Thirteen countries with a total of 28 representative cosplayers performed in the Championship in front of 12,000 visitors. TV Aichi produced and broadcast the WCS special "Everyone's Heroes Get Together!". It's a last time Japan had more national team representative than one team.
In April 2009, the WCS Executive Committee was created to administrate the development and expansion of the event. The parade had grown to 500 cosplayers, and 30 participants from 15 countries competed in the Cosplay Championship before 12,000 spectators, with Australia and Finland being the two newest participating nations. The first international symposium was held at Nagoya University entitled "Outward Minded: Worldwide Impact of Cosplay and Interpretations in Japan".
In 2010, the symposium was moved to the Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers.The number of visitors in event reached 89,800.
In 2011, the Netherlands and Malaysia joined, bringing the total participating countries to 17.
In 2012, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and Russia entered competitively at WCS, with Hong Kong and Taiwan participating under observer status, bringing the total number of represented countries to 22. WCS expanded to 12 days for its 10th anniversary, with official visits paid to Gifu, Mie, Tottori and Aichi Prefectural offices, and a second parade was held in Ichinomiya during the Tanabata Festival. The sequence of activities were altered, with the Championship held on the Saturday and the Parade on Sunday.
In 2013, Vietnam and the Philippines joined as observer nations, bringing the overall total to 24. The event was held with the help of local and international volunteers since 2009; however, this year saw the beginning of the Omotenashi (Hospitality) student volunteer group. This was the first year of the WCS as an independent company after 10 years where it was organized through the Events Department of TV Aichi. This was the first year of the World Cosplay Summit has become available broadcast live via Niconico.
In 2014, This was the first year that the Championship was held at the Aichi Arts Center beside Oasis 21. Portugal was selected to join. Also, Kuwait joined the WCS as the first nation from the Middle East, which brought the total number of participating nations/regions to 26.The number of visitors to the main venue, Oasis 21, exceeded 200,000.
In 2015, The Championship moved to the largest venue within the Aichi Arts Center called 'The Theater'. With the inclusion of Canada and Sweden as Observer Nations, the number of participating nations/regions now total 28.This is the last year that WCS used the song "We are the world" during the closing ceremony on stage after using this song many years before.
In 2016, India (the first nation from South Asia) and Switzerland joined the WCS, bringing the number of participating nations/region to 30. With this large field, the Championship was held in two stages over consecutive days. The First Stage, held on Saturday, will be divided into 2 groups and only 8 teams will be selected per group to qualify for the next round by an organized committee from each country who has no stake in their own country in each group and special prizes (Brother, Niconico etc.) will be distributed immediately after the selection. It was later found that the votes were miscounted, with Germany and South Korea having the same score as some of the nations with the fewest points to qualify. The jury has decided that both nations will advance to the next round for justice. which resulted in a total of 18 teams qualified for the next round. In The Second Stage held on Sunday All teams qualified in the afternoon before the start of the main event in the Championship round. They had to meet with the committee to explain the costumes. This was the first year of the World Cosplay Summit has become available used backscreen for enhance abilities representative's performance.The number of visitors during the periad exceeded 300,000. "We Can Start!!", the official WCS theme song, sung by Tōru Furuya WCS senior judges, was first sung during closing ceremonies on stage and later became the theme song during WCS events, including used in the closing ceremony on stage until now
In 2017, 15th anniversary of the WCS.Nagoya city declared ”Cosplay Host Town”.Belgium, Chile, Myanmar, Puerto Rico, and United Arab Emirates joined, while Kuwait withdrew, bringing the number of participating nations/region to 34. This was the first year the WCS allowed the use of dialog and scenarios from Japanese live action adaptations for performances. During the final stage of the Championships, participants from Taiwan and Brazil made unexpected marriage proposals on the stage.
In 2018, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, and South Africa joined WCS. Kuwait returned to participate while Puerto Rico and United Arab Emirates were unable to send representatives, bringing the number of participating nations/regions to 36. The Championship was held in a single stage at the Dolphins Arena Gymnasium. The Taiwanese cosplayers who became engaged during the 2017 championship held their wedding ceremony in the Wedding Hall Photo Party event;after the cake cutting ceremony, there was another surprise as the male WCS representative from Singapore made an unexpected marriage proposal.A night parade event was held for the first time at Central Park underground street.
In 2019, Austria, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Trinidad and Tobago joined WCS. United Arab Emirates returned to participate after being absent in 2018 while Kuwait and Puerto Rico were unable to send representatives for this year, bringing the number of participating nations/regions to 40. The WCS Championship expanded to a three-stage event: the Tokyo Round at Tokyo Dome City Hall on 27 August, only the two teams with the most points in each group from the costume show will be qualified for the finals immediately and the remaining 32 teams will compete in the next round. It was originally announced that Group 3's Mexico and Costa Rica would advance to the Final, With the mistake of counting the votes and it was discovered later that Russia had more points than Costa Rica. So Russia has the right to compete in the final instead of Costa Rica. On 31 August, A bridal cosplay party was held in Wedding Hall Bleu Leman, where the male WCS Alumni 2018 from Chile made an unexpected marriage proposal during the event. The Nagoya Round (Semi) and Final (Championship) moved to the venue within the Aichi Arts Center. In the Nagoya Round, there will be a method of selection through the Stage Performance Contest. Only 16 teams can advance to the final and compete against the 8 previous teams who have previously qualified for the final, a total of 24 teams in the World Cosplay Championship. This was the first year of the WCS was broadcast live on YouTube, But Tokyo Round And Nagoya Round Only.
In 2020, the cosplay championship stage was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In place of the event, a 24-hour live stream fund-raising event and a Kickstarter campaign was held to support the event in Japan and its partner organizations around the world. The campaign raised over 11,000,000 yen.
In 2021, Colombia, Latvia, and Ukraine joined WCS and Saudi Arabia participated as an observer. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings and travel, a number of countries/regions were unable to send teams, including Colombia, Latvia, Austria, China, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, UAE, Portugal, Denmark, and Myanmar.This brought the number of participating nations to 30. WCS 2021 was planned to utilize a combination of recorded, online and in-person events.A large mosaic mural of the Oasis 21 complex depicting cosplay images of many of the campaign backers was hung at Chubu International Airport. The WCS Championship was broadcast live on multiple channels: officially on Facebook, Niconico, and YouTube and by recognized broadcasters in various languages on Bilibili, Discord, and Twitch.
In 2022 will the 20th anniversary of the WCS but COVID-19 pandemic are continues including 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, a number of countries/regions were unable to send teams. The WCS organizing committee stipulates that there will be competitions in two categories by WCS representatives are coming to Japan with 11 nations for participate in Stage division (6 August) and 17 nations who cannot send representatives come to Japan will send video for participate in Video Division (7 August). But at the same time, 11 nations who have participated in Stage division will also participate in this event too, a total of 28 nations. On August 1, the WCS Organizing Committee announced that Finland unable send representatives to the stage division but still participating in the video division. And Saudi Arabia's participation in only video divisions has been canceled,total of countries participating to only 27 nations. The WCS Championship broadcast live was addition a new on Twitter And Locipo (Video Division Only). The first year WCS have grand champion two categories by Stage Division,Video Division And for the first time that the same nation has been got runner-up 2nd from both categories. Later 3 – 4 September A WCS Exhibition Event will be hosted for the first time in outside of Japan in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia called "World Cosplay Summit Exhibition Gamers8!!". Bangladesh, Czech Republic, Egypt, Lebanon and Poland joined the WCSxGamers8 event (not as WCS member countries). It is the first time that Colombia, Latvia has sent a joint representative after being unable to do so in 2021. The representatives are all alumni over the years, including the most recent representative and some representatives has been direct invite by WCS.By competing in such events, the WCS does not have an official live broadcast.
In 2023, Austria, Malaysia and Portugal returned to participate after being absent in 2021.The WCS organizing committee had set the competition to be just Stage performance as before.It was announced that there were 34 countries/regions, but later the Philippines withdrew from the competition bringing the number of participating nations/regions to 33 only.Later August 28-28, the WCS exhibition will be held again in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia called "Gamers8 Cosplay Cup supported by World Cosplay Summit". Argentina, Bangladesh, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Iraq, Mauritius, Mongolia, Morocco, Panama, Peru, Qatar, Serbia and Slovakia joined the WCSxGamers8 event (not as WCS member countries). It is the first time that Myanmar has sent a joint representative after being unable to do so in 2019, bringing the number of participating nations/region to 45. This competition still adheres to the rules of the WCS competition, but this competition, each national representative allowed the use of dialog and scenarios from Western media. which is different from the normal that it has to be a media from Japanese only.And this is the first time that WCS official YouTube channel has broadcast live competition in Saudi Arabia. Just like the WCS Championship in Japan. But due to some problems, the representative from Lebanon will not be able to perform on stage, but will still participate in activities on stage with representatives of all nations.
In 2024,The WCS organizing committee has announced that the video division will return and renamed the World Cinematic Cosplay Summit and change to online event competition on June 8–9 and broadcast live on officially on Facebook, Twitch, X (Twitter) and YouTube, while the WCS Championship will remain on its original schedule in August.The participating countries include 19 original member nations.The first day was a competition to select the top 5 representatives from the wild card group to compete with the 19 member nations in the next day. Each country could send more than 1 team, but in the end, the competition ended with 6 representatives because the bottom 2 teams had the same score.The WCCS champions who win the tournament will be invited to participate in the WCs events in August.Czech Republic and Mongolia joined WCS as member countries.bringing the number of participating nations/regions to 36.
in 2025, Bolivia, Peru and Poland joined WCS.
Regulations of the preliminaries for each country are decided by the event in which the respective preliminaries takes place. The following are participation regulations of the WCS Championship (finals) in Japan
1. Each country will be represented by one team of two cosplayers.
2. The costumes must be from Japanese anime, manga, and tokusatsu.
3. Cosplay costumes are to be hand-made.
4. Prospective entrants must be able to travel to Japan for about one week from the end of July to early August for the World Cosplay Summit Championship.
5. Participating minors must have consent of a guardian (rules may vary depending on the preliminary rules in different countries).
6. Contestants must participate in a positive manner in order to ensure the success of the World Cosplay Summit.
7. Legal Documents (i.e. passport application, official documentation, etc.) must be prepared and submitted as quickly as possible at the request of the WCS sponsor (TV Aichi).
8. Media such as TV programs, Internet homepages, newspapers, magazines, etc. may use photos and images of the preliminary contests prior to the World Cosplay Summit. On these occasions, compensation will not be furnished.
9. All image rights in all media exposure, such as news from TV programs and other assorted media involved with the World Cosplay Summit, promotional activities in print media as well as events and performances, and announcements of the Cosplay Summit both prior and during the event, will be attributed to TV Aichi.
10. After the World Cosplay Summit, images, photographs, footage, programs broadcast, Internet homepages and DVDs, etc. of the contestants will come under the jurisdiction of TV Aichi. Compensation will not be furnished for such images used by the media.
1. A minimum of three costumes must be brought to Japan: one for the Parade, one for the Championship, and one for media appearances.
2. In the Cosplay Championship, the costumes of the characters must be from the same Japanese manga, anime, video game or tokusatsu series.
3. All equipment, costumes and props for the Cosplay Championship performance are limited to a maximum weight of 40 kg (88 lb) combined for both performers.
4. All large props set on stage before the Cosplay Championship performance begins are limited to a maximum weight of 10 kg (22 lb). Prop dimensions are limited to 2,100 mm (83 in) in height, 2,100 mm (83 in) in width and 900 mm (35 in) in depth.
5. All large props set on stage are limited to a maximum of 3 items. Dimensions of hand held props carried onto the stage must be relayed to WCS head office in written form and accompanied by photographs.
6. It is not permitted to directly copy original drawings or logos to your equipment or props.
7. You are required to bear the cost of any overweight luggage charges when shipping costumes and other items. It is not possible to send them to Japan by air or ship beforehand.
8. Please prepare your own music for your performance. A performance sheet stating what you will perform is to be submitted in advance. The use of voice actors voices from original works in your music is prohibited.
9. Please send the documents and sound file at latest one month before the date of the Cosplay Championship.
1. Only handmade costume
2. The costumes must be from Japanese anime, manga, and tokusatsu.
3. The Stage Performance team must in group 2 judging time is 2.30 min for performance
4. Background screen can be used as a stage direction
5. The ranking is determined by the total score of the Character Judging and the Stage Performance Judging
1. The championship a special "online" edition (2021)
2. The national team will not be coming to Japan (2021)
3. Videos under 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the basic video editing must be done by the representatives, however adding CG or visual effects done by someone other than the representatives are allowed with credit to them.
4. Pair of 2 people (use of extras allowed)
5. Costumes are handmade, no weight or size restrictions
6. Music used in the video must be played or created by representatives if it is music that would otherwise be subject to rights management by JASRAC, or it must be copyright-free music and sound clips.
7. The use of copyrighted background music or the voices of voice actors from original works and the copying or tracing of scenes or images appearing in original works for use in the videos, and sources, where the copyright holder is someone other than the representative team, is not permitted
The Semi-final judges are a panel of usually organizer from participating nations/region, selected so that they are not judging the same group that contains their own team. Judging criteria use the same championship criteria apply as 2016.
The Tokyo judges are a panel of usually organizer from participating nations/region, selected so that they are not judging the same group that contains their own team. Judging criteria have a maximum total of 25 points for (a) Costume stage presence (50 points) and (b) Fidelity towards the original (50 points)
Judges are a panel of usually guest judges from the anime, manga and cosplay community.
In Early – 2015, Judging criteria have a maximum total of 25 points for (a) Performance (10 points), level of performance, inventiveness, entertainment, (b) Costume (10 points), design, faithfulness to the original characters costume, and (c)Fidelity to Original (5 points), level of faithfulness of the performance towards the original story and characters. At a later time has been change costume score to 15 points make a maximum total of 30 points
In 2016, Costume scoring criteria has been changed divided into costume craftsmanship (10 points) by organizers (organizer from participating nations/region, selected so that they are not judging the same group that contains their own team.) and the costume impact on stage (5 points)
In 2017, Costume impact on stage has been changed to Costume stage expression
In 2018, Judging criteria for all scores has been increased by 10 times.
In 2019, Costume Craftsmanship has been changed to Character Judging
In 2021, the hybrid year, the criteria were: (a) character judging, comprising costume precision (30 points), costume quality (10 points) and technique (10 points), and (b) video judging (100 points), comprising conception (45 points), acting (45 points), and "X-factor" (10 points).
In 2022, This is the first year a competition is divided into two categories, making it two Categories of criteria. Stage Division the criteria were: (a) character judging (100 points), comprising costume precision (40 points), costume quality (40 points) and technique (20 points), and (b) stage judging (100 points), comprising performance (50 points), acting・stage proficiency (20 points), Costume stage presence (20 points), and "X-factor" (10 points). Video Division use the same criteria apply as 2021.
In 2023, the judging criteria for stage performances will be based on the same criteria as in 2022.
Judges are a panel of usually guest judges from the anime, manga and cosplay community.
In 2024, the judging criteria for WCCS will be based on the same video division criteria.
Attending countries in bold indicate first attendance for that year:
Yearly results for the top awards:
Results of the 2024 World Cosplay Championship
Results of the 2024 World Cinematic Cosplay Summit
Results of the Gamers8 Cosplay Cup supported by World Cosplay Summit
This list contains the champions of World Cosplay Summit.
The following conventions, organizations and events have held or organized the preliminary contests to select the representatives of each country for the Cosplay Championship since 2005
In addition to the World Cosplay Summit, there are other international cosplay competitions: