Kirisaki was dressed as the character Honoka from the Love Live! anime series.
Photo: The New Paper
She has been in the cosplay scene for about eight years, but Kirisaki (not her real name) is still concerned about letting her friends know about her passion.The 23-year-old university student, who has brightly coloured dyed hair, is not fond of entertaining questions about her cosplay life.
Kirisaki told The New Paper yesterday at The Cathay's J-Obsession 2016 event: "People in my school don't know that I do cosplay. I like to keep my cosplay life private.
"I don't like to tell people because they tend to think that it's a weird hobby.
"I find it convenient to just avoid telling people so that I don't have to explain to them when they ask me questions."
Kirisaki's family, though, know about her cosplaying.
"At first, my mother was unsupportive of it, but after a few years, she became more and more supportive by saying things like, 'Oh, the costume you made is really nice'," said Kirisaki.
"My father just goes with the flow."
Kirisaki and Ms Sabrina Wong were the two local guest cosplayers invited to appear at The Cathay's J-Obsession 2016 event.
About 500 cosplayers gathered to attend the three-day event, which ended yesterday.
Anzu Manaka and Martha Asahi, two of Japan's most well-known cosplayers, also made appearances.
Even though she hides her real identity, she has been recognised by strangers.
"Once, I had no make-up and cosplay costume on, but people still recognised me from far away.
"They went up to my friend and asked, 'Is that Kirisaki?' and they wanted to take a picture with me," she said.
"On Friday, I was dressed in T-shirt, shorts and slippers and this uncle suddenly came up to me and said, 'Can I take a picture of you?'.
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