How I photographed cosplayers at Tokyo's Halloween festival 🇯🇵

On my previous visit to Tokyo, I had tried night photography on the Tokyo Cyberpunk Streets course. This time, I wanted to try photographing cosplayers.

I knew cosplay mainly from the internet and a little from the anime My Dress-Up Darling, but I had never seen it in person. Japan seemed like the best place to try it.

So on 1 November 2026, during my third trip to Japan, I headed to the Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival around the Sunshine City shopping centre.

Buying a ticket was not straightforward

You can visit the festival without a ticket, but taking photos in the official areas requires a photographer’s ticket. There was a basic option and a more expensive one with extra benefits. The basic one was enough for me.

Buying it turned out to be more complicated than I had expected. Creating an account in the ticketing system required a Japanese phone number, which I did not have. My Japanese data-only eSIM was no help here.

Eventually, I asked a Japanese friend for help. She created an account using her email address and phone number, and I paid for the ticket with my own card. That still was not the end of it. The ticket had to be printed at a konbini, a Japanese convenience store. My friend took care of that too.

To buy a ticket to a cosplay festival, I needed a Japanese friend’s help, her phone number, her email address and a trip to a konbini. At least I could pay for it myself.

What am I supposed to do?

When I arrived at Sunshine City, I was not quite sure how the festival worked. A few cosplayers were standing or sitting in a small park outside the building, with food stalls nearby. There were more cosplayers in the square out front and in a smaller area one level below.

Two long queues stretched out in front of the entrance: one for cosplayer registration and one for photographers. I had a paper ticket that needed to be exchanged for a registration wristband, but I did not feel like joining the queue just yet. I decided to look around the park first.

In the park, I spent a while watching the other photographers. They had professional cameras with large lenses. Some had lights and other equipment too. I had an iPhone 15. I felt rather out of place among them.

What was I supposed to say to a cosplayer? How should I ask for permission to take a photo? More importantly, would they take me seriously with a phone? Would they be willing to pose for me?

So I watched how the others did it. They asked for permission first, and the cosplayer would then start posing, often working through a whole set of prepared poses. Some moved from one to the next automatically, almost mechanically. Others waited for the photographer to say hai before changing poses.

Eventually, I chose a cosplayer I had already seen posing for another photographer. She was in a good spot and was now free. I asked if I could take her photo. She agreed and immediately started posing.

After each photo, I said hai, copying what I had seen the other photographers do. I still had no idea how many photos to take, whether to ask for a different pose or, most importantly, when to stop. In the end, I thanked her and walked away.

After a few similar attempts, I started to feel more confident. I walked around the park, looking for interesting costumes and approaching cosplayers who were not busy. That often meant waiting until they had finished chatting with friends, taking selfies, or eating.

Photographing the cosplayers

I gradually made my way to the square in front of Sunshine City. There were more cosplayers there, but more photographers too. Some cosplayers had entire queues waiting for them, while others standing right next to them attracted no interest at all. The contrast could feel quite strange.

Not everyone had chosen a good spot for photos. Some stood with their backs to the harsh sunlight, leaving their faces completely in shadow. Since I was only using a phone and did not want to ask people to move, I mostly skipped those.

My favourite was a cosplayer dressed as Frieren from Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. She had brought a staff, a book and a suitcase. She switched between the props and had different poses ready. I did not need to give her any directions. I just took photos.

The Dandadan cosplayer had some good poses ready too.

Among all the anime girls, Sakamoto from Sakamoto Days made me smile, posing with a cup of noodles.

When I saw the Gundam, I mostly wondered how anyone could move around in a costume like that.

Rem and Ram from Re:Zero were there too.

One cosplayer looked familiar from photos I had seen online. At least, I thought it was her. She was there with her own photographer and, in person, seemed like any other festival participant.

I was still nervous when I asked her in English if I could take her photo. I took two shots, thanked her and quickly walked away. Both photos were bad. Maybe I could have continued, but I was too nervous.

Where is your wristband?

When I asked one cosplayer for a photo, she looked at me and asked whether I was registered as a photographer. I think she had noticed that I did not have a wristband.

I apologised and showed her my paper ticket. I had bought one; I just had not been to registration yet. She told me that if I wanted to photograph her, I needed to register first.

I was embarrassed. After all the trouble of buying a ticket, I was now explaining why I still did not have a wristband. All I had needed to do was join the registration queue first.

I went back, exchanged my ticket for an orange wristband and returned to her. This time, I showed her the wristband and finally got to take her photo.

Not always the right moment for a photo

Back in the park, I came across a cosplayer dressed as Umbreon from Pokémon. She was posing for several photographers but was clearly in a hurry to get somewhere. She kept telling everyone to be quick, so I only took a few photos too.

At another point, I spotted two girls in My Hero Academia costumes. They were eating, so I left them alone.

I wanted to photograph Emilia from Re:Zero because I like the character. But she was having lunch. I did not want to leave and look for her later. I was afraid I would not find her again.

So I lingered nearby, waiting for her to finish. When I approached her, she initially asked me to wait a little longer, but then changed her mind and said we could do it straight away. Perhaps she had noticed my iPhone and decided it would be quick.

She put her lunch aside and stood up. But we were taking photos in a spot where other people were eating or walking past. She would pose for a while, then have to stop to let someone through. Her bag of food ended up in some of the shots too.

I felt embarrassed. It seemed I had interrupted her lunch and was now making her pose in a completely unsuitable spot.

Eventually, I also went inside Sunshine City, where there were more cosplayers. I managed to find the two girls from My Hero Academia whom I had seen eating outside.

I did not enjoy taking photos indoors at all. There were always other people in the background, and an ordinary exhibition hall did not make for particularly good photos.

Two hundred photos and ten good ones

I took more than 200 photos during the festival. After going through and editing them, I ended up with about ten that I was happy with.

Often, the light was wrong or the background was distracting. Other times, I had simply pressed the shutter at the wrong moment. Most of the photos I kept were taken outdoors.

Among the photos I kept was a gothic cosplay from My Dress-Up Darling, the anime that had given me some idea of what cosplay was like.

I was happy that at least a few of the photos turned out well. Perhaps I was not so bad at taking photos with an iPhone after all.

I would definitely go to a festival like this again. I would just get the registration wristband first.