English
Aichi is home of the Japanese Cosplay boom sweeping the world. Every year, the World Cosplay Summit is staged in Nagoya, drawing thousands from overseas, and many, many more from across Japan to take part in dressing up as your favorite anime, manga, or game hero or character. In Aichi, you can dress up as a samurai, in a Meiji-period costume, and more all year-round. Here’s what and where…
Experience wearing samurai armor in the Showa Yokocho area of the Inuyama Castle Town, where the locals have studied under a true armor craftsman to create lightweight but realistically shaped aluminum armor for events, and for visitors to try on. Available weekends only!
Alongside the Kiyosu Castle keep, in the Kuroki Shoin Hall, are sets of armor hand crafted by the Kiyosu Armor Workshop. Visitors can wear samurai armor or the gorgeous women’s kimono of a Warring States-period princess as they walk the grounds and halls of Kiyosu Castle. Take pictures of yourself in front of the imposing keep in full samurai armor and register to become an International Samurai, receiving a printed certificate!
Open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, the Iyeyasu and Mikawa Bushi Museum on the Okazaki Castle grounds provides an opportunity for visitors to wear samurai armor for free, after paying for museum admission. Get ready for battle and take a picture in front of the Okazaki Castle panel on display!
Meiji-Mura is an open-air museum of historical architecture, structures, and items from Japan's Meiji period (1868–1912) arranged in a theme park-like village in historical Inuyama City. To make your visit all the more real, you can rent Meiji-period costumes to wear as you tour the park and see the old buildings, taking great photos and making great memories.
See the world—the Little World—in Inuyama! Little World is an open-air village theme park displaying architecture and culture from around the world! Some of the villages even have traditional costumes for you to try on for a nominal fee, letting you get a true sense of cultures from around the world.
