2021 Kigurumi Chronicle¶
The repository already contains completed 2022–2025 volumes. Following the rule to avoid completed years and move backward one year at a time, this edition covers 2021. Gaps are preserved instead of being filled with inference.
1. Scope¶
This page covers animegao kigurumi, masked character cosplay, specialist events, and the public infrastructure they directly depend on. World Cosplay Summit (WCS) is an adjacent general-cosplay venue: it documents how public events restarted, but it is not evidence that every participant was a kigurumi performer.
Organizer pages and government or public-agency records can establish dates, places, and event structure. Participant media and search summaries are research leads only. Surviving event pages without a verifiable date are not placed on the 2021 timeline.
2. Verified chronology¶
May 22 and August 7–8: WCS adopts a hybrid format¶
The WCS 2021 archive announced its hybrid structure on May 22 and held the event on August 7–8. The championship used a Video Division, while in-person cosplay activity remained around Oasis 21 and other Nagoya venues.1 Japan National Tourism Organization and Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirm the dates and hybrid format.23
For this archive, WCS is relevant as event infrastructure: masked cosplay requires changing, transport, assistance, photography, and rest arrangements. The 2021 record is a transitional model; the broader in-person restart belongs in the 2022 volume.
October 23–24: 18th Kigurumi Wasshoi!¶
The organizer records that the event moved from September to October 23–24 and was tested at Hotel East 21 Tokyo.4 The program combined:
- two days of halls, a top-floor lounge, pool areas, and chapel photography;
- hotel packages that allowed changing in guest rooms;
- stage and dealer activity related to kigurumi and other full-head costumes;
- a dinner plan adjusted to soft drinks under the dining restrictions then in force.
This is not a duplicate of the 19th event documented in 2022. The two-day hotel model is the direct predecessor to that later record.
August 30: the official WCS booklet is archived¶
WCS published its 2021 official booklet after the event.1 Programs, maps, rules, and booklets are first-party records even when they appear after an event ends.
3. Domain assessment¶
| Domain | Verified 2021 material | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Chronicle | WCS hybrid event; 18th Kigurumi Wasshoi! |
Include |
| Daily life / discussion | Hotel stays, changing, photography, two-day participation | Public organizer process only |
| Workshop / craft | No independently verified new tutorial found in this run | Leave blank |
| Etiquette / safety | COVID-era refunds, checks, dining constraints, venue zoning | Context only |
| Encyclopedia / education | Distinguish general cosplay infrastructure from specialist kigurumi events | Include |
| Academic | No directly relevant, verifiable 2021 publication found | Leave blank |
4. Undated leads: Doll Weekend 1–4¶
The current Doll Weekend archive preserves names, locations, and short descriptions for DW1–4, but does not display verifiable dates.5 They remain leads, not 2021 facts.
| Record | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|
| DW1, "Setting Sail" | Guangzhou | Date unverified |
| DW2, "First Light" | Guangzhou | Date unverified |
| DW3, "Country Walk" | Guangzhou | Date unverified |
| DW4, "Rain Scene" | Zhuhai | Date unverified |
5. De-duplication and conclusion¶
This page retains only the first WCS hybrid model and the 18th Kigurumi Wasshoi!. FGO greetings, KiguFesta, DW5–12, later WCS rules, and other 2022–2025 material stay in their completed volumes. The strongest 2021 conclusion is modest: general and specialist events found different ways to resume, while undated archive leads still require primary evidence.
Sources¶
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World Cosplay Summit, “WORLD COSPLAY SUMMIT 2021,” https://www.worldcosplaysummit.jp/2021/en/ ↩↩
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Japan National Tourism Organization, “World Cosplay Summit 2021 – Hybrid event,” https://www.japan.travel/en/au/news-blog/world-cosplay-summit-2021-hybrid-event/ ↩
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “The World Cosplay Summit 2021,” https://www.mofa.go.jp/p_pd/ca_opr/page24e_000310.html ↩
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キグルミwasshoi!, “開催概要 / 第18回 キグルミwasshoi!,” https://www.wasshoi.kigdoll.net/20210918 ↩
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Doll Weekend, event archive, https://dollweekend.cn/cn/event/ ↩