People all over the world are mixing the fantasy life of characters into their everyday real-world life. Roleplaying with costumes is a way of life for some people; it is also well-known as a performance art called “cosplay”. The donning of costumes, along with accessories, to mimic a character or concept (often inspired by Japanese fiction, including anime, video games and comic books) combined with physically playing out the role of the character, is becoming more and more popular, not just in Japan, but around the world. These are not actors on a stage; they are real people playing out fantasy roles in real life.
