Pop Culture Hiroshima

We know that there is no cosplayer who has not dreamed of going to Japan - the Mecca of cosplay, the homeland of anime and manga! That is why Aniventure Comic Con 2026 is happy to announce that for the third time it will be part of the "Pop Culture Hiroshima" event and will send two representatives from Bulgaria who will participate in it in Japan!

Pop Culture Hiroshima will be held in the city of Hiroshima on October 31st and November 1st, 2026. The main goal is cultural exchange between all participants - meeting cosplayers from all over the world, sharing experiences and making new acquaintances, spending time together in the beautiful corners of Japan. Participants will have the opportunity to join a cosplay parade, a walk and photos in front of key places in the city, as well as a stage where there will be many events and including a cosplay show in which the selected representatives will take part. The show there is not competitive and there is no jury or awards.

Participants who have registered for the Aniventure Comic Con 2026 cosplay competition can compete for this unique opportunity.

Participation requirements:

- Participants must be a duo. No single participant or more than two are allowed.
- Both participants must be from the same title. For example - both from Naruto. One is not allowed to be from Naruto and the other from One piece. There are more restrictions on costumes, which you can read in "Additional Information".
- Participants must be 18 years old by the date of the event.
- Only handmade costumes are allowed.
- Participants who were representatives and took part in the WCS, TOC, Cosplay Champions and ECG events are not allowed.
- Participants must have Bulgarian citizenship.
- Participants must be willing to participate in all events organized by Pop Culture Hiroshima (rehearsals, meetings, parade and stage performance). Activities are not optional.

Here is what the prize for the selected participants includes:

- A round-trip plane ticket to the event in Hiroshima for both participants, with one large suitcase included for each passenger

- Hotel accommodation for October 30 - November 1

- Participation on the stage of the event, as well as additional activities such as a walk around the city, a cosplay parade, an organized dinner and others (organized by the hosts and participation in them is mandatory)

Additional information:

- At the Pop Culture Hiroshima event, participants need two costumes per person (one for participation on stage and one for the parade in the city).

- It is not mandatory that the costumes you compete with for participation be from a Japanese title. However, if you win at Aniventure Comic Con with costumes that are not from a Japanese title, it will be MANDATORY to make new ones for the event itself in Hiroshima. You can ONLY participate there with costumes that are from Japanese titles. In this regard, here are the restrictions that are specifically set for the costumes worn during Pop Culture Hiroshima:
- Costumes are not allowed to be too revealing. Examples that are not allowed are: Nami, due to an excessively revealing upper part. Cammy White, due to an excessively revealing lower part.
- Costumes that are police, fire or military are not allowed. They should not resemble real clothes used in such and similar professions.
- Costumes that have blood on them due to the character are not allowed. Example: White blood cell from Cells at work.
- Costumes that represent yakuza, street gangs, etc. are not allowed. Example: Tokyo Revengers.

- If desired, participants can request longer dates of stay in Japan. The organizers cover the stay only for the dates 17-18-19 October, but the plane tickets may be for a longer stay, which is entirely covered and organized by the participants.

- Participants are allowed to compete for the qualification on both days of Aniventure Comic Con.

- Participation in the qualification takes place as part of the regular Aniventure Comic Con cosplay show. There is no separate show/competition just for the qualification. Participants participate with one costume in both the show and the qualification.

- All those wishing to participate in the qualification must pass a preliminary judging.

Registration for "Pop Culture Hiroshima" is done by filling out the registration form for the Aniventure Comic Con 2026 cosplay show https://aniventure.net/en/contests/cosplay . There is an additional question there where those interested can specify whether they wish to compete for the prize.

More about Pop Culture Hiroshima can be found at:
http://pophi.jp
https://www.facebook.com/pophiroshima