Den Den town is known for shops specializing in electronics, animation, manga and collectibles, a smaller version of Akihabara Electric Town in Tokyo. It is Osaka’s hub for everything weird or cool!! You’ll find maid cafe’s, maid and cat cafes, and butler cafes there! The streets of Den-Den Town is closed to traffic to accomodate the annual Nippombashi Street Festa or Den Den Town Festival every year in March. Thousands of cosplayers take over Osaka at Nipponbashi Street Festa, one of Kansai’s largest cosplay and anime-themed events. Several parades, including a maid parade and a cosplay parade that anyone can participate in takes place there. You can also experience robot performances and live music!

This event is being held every year since 2005 and is growing steadily each year, drawing more and more attention. And I can vouch on that because I have been going there since last 5 years!.

The Nipponbashi Street Festival’s main attraction is its parade, which kicks off with an opening ceremony at noon. It is the main event of the day. After the character parade, maid idols walk through Den Den Town. They include cosplayers and workers from local maid-themed cafes or anyone who wants to show off their cosplaying style and skills – you just need to buys a ticket before, if you want to dress up! Unfortunately, I am a late riser and I haven’t been able to see the parade yet. I will try to make it early this year!

Coming back to the festival, hundreds of men and women walk around the streets of Den Den Town dressed in costume called cosplay while others gather around to take photographs. Cosplay is a hobby in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character from manga, anime, comic books or video games. Even if you’re not a cosplayer or an idol fan, this festival is an amazing opportunity to experience this popular culture in all its glory. Nippombashi Street Festa is also a celebration of the weird and interesting otaku culture. Otaku おたく/オタク is a Japaneese term for people with obsessive interests, commonly the anime and manga fandom. In modern Japanese otaku is geek or nerd basically a fan of any topic or hobby. Usually obsessive, an otaku person has nothing to do, so they stay at home and spend their time by watching anime, playing video games, surfing the internet, etc. Sounds like a good life!

So even if you’ve never checked out Nipponbashi before and don’t know anything about the otaku or cosplay, this is your golden chance! During the Festa, it’s all out on display, from the weird to the wacky! I hope to see you there – and ensure to bring your camera and a cool attitude!

Date: March 20, 2016

Venue: Nippombashi Shopping Street in Den Den Town

Time: 11 am – 4:00pm