160,000 people enjoyed Ikebukuro’s Cosplay Halloween

Inori Hanamiya (@inori_0118) cosplaying as Elsa Scarlett from the anime “FAIRY TAIL”.

8:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning in late October. The sound of rumbling and pulling suitcases echoed down Sunshine Avenue in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Men, women, young people, and families with children, all carrying suitcases, were heading east. They were all rubbing their sleepy eyes and yawning, but they all had an excited look on their faces.

This was the scene on the morning of the final day of “Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Fest 2024 Powered by dwango” (Ikehalo 2024), one of the largest cosplay events in Japan, which was held for three days from October 25 to 27 at various locations on the east side of Ikebukuro Station.

Their destination was a special changing room in Sunshine City. Cosplayer Kao was one of them. He arrived at Sunshine City at 8:30 in the morning with fellow cosplayers Ringoko and DIMM.

This will be my third time to participate. I live in a neighboring prefecture, but in order to participate for the full three days, I booked a hotel near Ikebukuro. I put on a certain amount of makeup at the hotel, but cosplaying (traveling by public transportation while in cosplay) is not recommended for Ikehara, so I will be changing in the changing rooms and making final adjustments to my makeup,” said Kao.

This year marks the 11th Ikehalo. Last year’s Ikehalo 2023, which marked a milestone year for the event, was a grand success, welcoming Sachiko Kobayashi (70) as a guest and attracting a record number of approximately 141,000 visitors at the time.

This year was not a milestone year and no famous celebrities appeared. The Shibuya and Shinjuku wards of Tokyo asked people not to come to the city for Halloween, and the public’s attitude toward Halloween was again strong.　This year, however, the number of visitors to Ikehawaro 2024 was more than double that of last year. The number of visitors to Ikehawaro 2024 was approximately 161,000, breaking the previous record.

Ikehalo is a safe and secure event. Ikehalo is a safe and secure event, and Toshima Ward is proud to have nurtured it together with its visitors,” said Toshima Mayor Miyuki Takagishi.

As Toshima Ward Mayor Miyuki Takagai stated at the ceremony, “Ikehalo is a safe and secure event that grows together with its visitors, and Toshima Ward is proud to be a part of it. Even outside of the event site, some commercial facilities and restaurants in the area allowed people to enter in cosplay costumes, and people were seen everywhere in Ikebukuro enjoying cosplay, whether to wear it or to watch it. Of course, hospitality for cosplayers, who are the stars of the event, has also been updated.

Starting this year, you can leave your luggage at the venue’s luggage storage area for the entire day. This is a great improvement for people like me who plan to do a different cosplay every day. Until now, I had to check in and pick up my luggage every day, and it sometimes took me an hour just to wait in line at the storage area. If I was particular about cosplay costumes and props, it would often take me more than an hour to get changed, so it was a great help to shorten the time I had to spend on tasks other than changing clothes,” said Kao.

Kao, who had transformed into Ellen Joe, a popular character in the action RPG “Zenless Zone Zero,” arrived at Ike Sun Park, where the photo shooting area was located, a little after 11:00 pm. She will continue to enjoy photographing and interacting with cosplayers without a break until the event’s closing time at 5 pm.

Kao’s group gathered at the venue early in the morning.

Kao and his team (from left to right: Ms. Ringoko, Mr. Kao, and Mr. DIMM), who spent about two hours in the event, underwent a major transformation.

After the event, Kao-san’s group was going to the launch party.

Guru-chan cosplaying as Himmel from the anime “Sougou no Freelen”.

In addition to female cosplayers, there was a wide range of cosplayers, including men, children, seniors, and foreigners. To my surprise, there was even a dog cosplayer. Guru-chan, a male Pomeranian (12), cosplayed as Himmel from the anime “Sougou no Furen” and charmed passersby.

Guru-chan’s owner said, “It was more crowded than I had imagined and the sun was strong, so I decided to enjoy myself for a short time, taking Guru-chan’s stamina into consideration.

Why does Ikehara attract so many cosplayers? We asked Kao after the event was over and she had finished changing her clothes.

I cosplay at about five or six events a year. For example, Anime Japan is for anime and the Tokyo Game Show is for video games, so to some extent cosplay is expected to match the event. That is fun in its own way, but Ikehara is an event where cosplay itself is the main attraction. Although there is a Halloween flavor to the event, there is a much greater degree of freedom than at other events.

Because it is one of the largest events of its kind in Japan, some people only attend Ike Halloween, and it is also a place where you can meet cosplay friends you have made through the Internet. It is also a place where you can meet other cosplayers you have met on the Internet. It is truly an annual festival. The more you put into your cosplay, the more it costs, and the more preparation it takes, but I hope to come back next year,” said Kao.