2022 Kigurumi Chronicle¶
This volume records events, works and publications from this year. Announcements and completed events are identified separately.
2022 chronology¶
January–February: reopening remained conditional¶
The year began with uncertainty. A kigurumi participant typically needs more changing-room time, larger luggage, rest space, cooling, and sometimes an assistant. Full-head presentation also complicates identity checks, mask use, temperature screening, and emergency response.
The surviving event pages therefore do not describe a simple return to pre-pandemic practice. キグルミwasshoi! published infection-control information; the first 着ぐFesta explicitly linked its creation to events gradually resuming; and WCS required symptomatic or exposed participants to stay away, used temperature screening, restricted conversation in changing rooms, and retained mask and distancing measures.[S3][S7][S8]
March 26–27: FGO at AnimeJapan 2022¶
AnimeJapan 2022 took place at Tokyo Big Sight on March 26–27. The official Fate/Grand Order page placed the FGO booth in East Hall 3 and listed a "cosplayer / kigurumi greeting stage," alongside the March 27 FGO special stage.[S1]
This was an official IP operation, not an animegao fan gathering. Even so, its return mattered to the wider public vocabulary of kigurumi: visitors again encountered two-dimensional characters as moving, photographable bodies in a major commercial anime exhibition. The 2022 node is recorded here without repeating the different character lineups and booth arrangements of later AnimeJapan editions.
April 9–10: the 19th キグルミwasshoi!¶
The 19th キグルミwasshoi! was held at Hotel East 21 Tokyo on April 9–10. Its official page described East 21 Hall, the Panorama cocktail lounge, a night pool for hotel guests, the garden pool, a paid chapel area, stage programs, a photo contest, maker exhibits, photography services, and lodging-related arrangements.[S3]
The event is historically important because its rules show what a complex hotel-based kigurumi gathering required in 2022:
- visual passes communicated whether a participant allowed touch or photography;
- photographers needed consent before shooting and again before publishing;
- changing rooms and restrooms were no-photography areas;
- participants could not monopolize locations or request inappropriate poses;
- entering the water and operating drones were prohibited;
- lighting equipment near the pool required fall prevention;
- ordinary hotel guests and non-event public areas had to remain undisturbed;
- clothing, props, footwear, and conduct could not create exposure, danger, or venue damage.
These rules turned difficult non-verbal boundaries into visible event infrastructure. They also separated an attractive poolside setting from permission to enter the water, an important safety distinction for limited-vision, absorbent, or heavy costumes.
Early June: Doll Weekend 5, "Black and White Concerto"¶
The Doll Weekend archive describes DW5 in Zhuhai as its first themed event, built around a black-and-white maid party. A related Bilibili video was published on June 6, 2022; that is evidence of public circulation, not necessarily the exact event date.[S9][S10][S14]
DW5 matters because it introduced a shared visual and social frame rather than merely placing many unrelated characters in one venue. Theme, costume palette, group photographs, and party ritual gave participants a common narrative. Later Doll Weekend editions became much larger, but this volume keeps the historical focus on the first themed experiment.
Late July: Doll Weekend 6, "Seaside Vacation"¶
The official archive places DW6 in Shenzhen and describes a seaside-villa holiday after a typhoon, with day-long character immersion and social activity. A related public video was released on July 27, 2022, so the exact event date remains less certain than the publication date.[S9][S11][S15]
The seaside format expanded both creative possibility and operational risk. Longer character time, wind, humidity, heat, wet surfaces, hair stability, equipment transport, rest breaks, and cooling all mattered more than they would in a single indoor hall. DW6 is therefore recorded as an early environment-led event, not as a precursor inflated to the scale of later Doll Weekends.
July 30–31: FGO Fes. 2022, 7th Anniversary¶
FGO Fes. 2022 was held at Makuhari Messe on July 30–31. Inside Games described it as the first physical FGO anniversary event in roughly three years. At the welcome gate, nine official cosplayers and six kigurumi greeted visitors amid a large screen, red carpet, music, and a globe-shaped stage element.[S2]
The report identified the kigurumi as the female protagonist, Altera, Mash, Jeanne d'Arc, Saber, and Leonardo da Vinci. Their role was distinct from the official cosplayers but part of the same embodied welcome. This node demonstrates why physical presence remained useful to IP operations: waving, walking, greeting, and group photography cannot be reproduced by a stream or display alone.
August 5–7: World Cosplay Summit 2022¶
WCS 2022 marked the event's twentieth anniversary. Its Stage Division page described the World Cosplay Championship as returning to a physical stage for the first time in about three years, although international travel restrictions still limited which teams could attend in Japan.[S4]
The accompanying rules are directly relevant to kigurumi:
- public event areas were not treated as completely closed cosplay spaces;
- photography and publication required the subject's consent;
- low-angle or exposure-oriented photography was prohibited;
- participants were told to hydrate, rest, and respond early to heat symptoms;
- staff could stop costumes likely to cause serious dehydration;
- COVID controls remained in place for entry and changing rooms.[S5][S6][S7]
The historical significance is institutional. In 2022, offline return was inseparable from heat management, consent, public-space awareness, and health controls.
August 6: the first 着ぐFesta¶
The first 着ぐFesta was held on August 6 at GarageStudioC7. Its TwiPla page recorded 24 participants and described an event that could be joined without advance reservation. The whole floor was reserved, with black and white photo backgrounds, changing and cloak space, and free-form interaction rather than a dense program.[S8]
The organizer also presented the event as a learning exercise for future services. Later editions developed more formal rules and activities; those changes belong to later annual volumes. The 2022 record is the first, deliberately lightweight entry point.
By September 13: Doll Weekend 7, "Connecting New Beginnings"¶
The official Doll Weekend archive places DW7 in Guangzhou, reports more than 150 participants, and identifies it as the first edition to include exhibitor partners. A main public video was published on September 13, 2022, and the description says DW7 had successfully concluded. The event therefore ended no later than that date, but neither the site nor the video gives its exact event date.[S9][S12][S16]
Exhibitor participation connected gatherings with a supply chain of masks, bodysuits, wigs, costumes, eye parts, footwear, padding, photography, storage, and transport. The event is recorded here because that link was a material 2022 change, not because later commercial growth should be projected backward onto it.
By December 27: Doll Weekend 8, "Warm Winter Gathering"¶
The official page places DW8 in Huizhou and describes it as the first reunion after emerging from the pandemic's shadow, centered on the beach, sea, and fireworks. The official film, published on December 27, 2022, also identifies the Huizhou seashore. This confirms that the event had occurred by then, but does not establish its exact date.[S9][S13][S17]
DW8 closes the year's Doll Weekend arc emotionally: DW5 introduced a shared theme, DW6 expanded into a seaside holiday, DW7 added exhibitors and passed 150 participants, and DW8 framed gathering itself as the central event. The archive does not infer private attendance details from photographs or social posts.
Sources¶
[S1] Fate/Grand Order, AnimeJapan 2022 FGO booth and cosplayer / kigurumi greeting-stage announcement. https://news.fate-go.jp/2022/aj2022/
[S2] Inside Games, FGO Fes. 2022 on-site report covering the physical-event return, nine official cosplayers, and six kigurumi. https://www.inside-games.jp/article/2022/07/30/139502.html
[S3] Official page for the 19th キグルミwasshoi! https://www.wasshoi.kigdoll.net/kigwasshoi19
[S4] World Cosplay Summit 2022 Stage Division. https://worldcosplaysummit.jp/2022/en/championship/stagedivision/
[S5] World Cosplay Summit 2022 cosplay rules. https://worldcosplaysummit.jp/2022/en/cosplay/rule/
[S6] World Cosplay Summit 2022 heatstroke-prevention guidance. https://worldcosplaysummit.jp/2022/en/cosplay/heatstroke/
[S7] World Cosplay Summit 2022 COVID-19 safety measures. https://worldcosplaysummit.jp/2022/en/cosplay/covid/
[S8] TwiPla, first 着ぐFesta event page (2022). https://twipla.jp/events/519532
[S9] Doll Weekend official event archive. https://dollweekend.cn/cn/event/
[S10] Doll Weekend 5, "Black and White Concerto." https://dollweekend.cn/cn/event/dw5/
[S11] Doll Weekend 6, "Seaside Vacation." https://dollweekend.cn/cn/event/dw6/
[S12] Doll Weekend 7, "Connecting New Beginnings." https://dollweekend.cn/cn/event/dw7/
[S13] Doll Weekend 8, "Warm Winter Gathering." https://dollweekend.cn/cn/event/dw8/
[S14] Bilibili public video index for Doll Weekend 5, published June 6, 2022. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1xF411V7nF/
[S15] Bilibili public video index for Doll Weekend 6, published July 27, 2022. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ra411K7ss/
[S16] Bilibili, main public Doll Weekend 7 film, published by 年糕蛋炒饭 on September 13, 2022; its description says the event had concluded. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ke4y1y7Kq/
[S17] Bilibili, official Doll Weekend 8 film, published December 27, 2022. https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Yd4y1a7RU/