At this summer’s bigger, better HYPER JAPAN, we’re able to make an even bigger deal out of cosplay and Kawaii Fashion than usual. So much so that we want to immortalise the fashion and cosplay highlights in print for you, the community, to enjoy!

HYPER will be a full-colour photobook, featuring both the cream of the crop of images taken by our professional photographers.

There’s also a chance for you to get involved via Instagram:

Take photo of your favourite things at HYPER JAPAN & post on your Instagram (or facebook / twitter using Instagram) with the hash tag ‪#‎HYPERJAPANBOOK‬.

We’ll choose our favourite photos for the community submissions page of the book.

UK Preliminaries – Sunday 27th July on the HYPER JAPAN main stage

The ECG final will take place at Japan Expo in Paris, France. Japan Expo is the largest pop-culture event in Europe, with over 200,000 visitors and dozens of guests from the world of anime, video games, movies and comics. HYPER JAPAN will be sending one solo cosplayer and one group on an all-expenses paid trip to Japan Expo to represent the UK at the ECG final in July 2015!

Why enter?

As well as having the chance to represent your country and the fun of an all-expenses paid trip to Paris, ECG is a great chance to meet like-minded cosplayers from all over Europe and share an exciting experience together meeting new friends both abroad and at HYPER JAPAN. Many of our previous representatives have made friendships with their fellow contestants which have lasted well after the contest was over.

Who can enter?

Anyone who lives in the UK or is the holder of a British passport. You can enter by yourself or in a group, and you must be aged 18 by 1st June 2015.

How is the contest judged?

ECG is judged on 50% costume, 50% performance. Performing doesn’t need to be scary – it just means that well made simpler costumes have a fair chance at placing as well as complex ones if they have an interesting presentation to go with it.

What’s a progress book and why do I need one?

We ask that all ECG contestants bring a small book with them explaining how they made their costume. This is just so the judges can see all the hard work you’ve put into making your costume. Your book can be as simple or as detailed as you like, it just needs to contain a few in-progress photos of your costume and one or two notes explaining how you made it.

How can I enter?

The UK Preliminary for ECG 2015 will take place on Sunday, 27th July 2014 at HYPER JAPAN. This means the winning team will have almost a year to prepare for the finals in 2015!

Entries are now closed! Thankyou to all who applied for entry.