Cosplay shopping guide: Tokyo -> Getting fabric and dry goods

Cosplay shopping guide: Tokyo -> Getting fabric and dry goods

It is a dream of every Cosplayer/ Anime fan to visit Japan once.
Next to a huge variety of shops stuffed with Anime/ Manga merchandise you can find a large sum of shops with Cosplay related goods or Cosplays itself.
Although Cosplay in general is not a reputable hobby in Japan, it is more acknowledged than in Europe.
Generally you will find in every city of Japan shops selling Cosplays and goods.
Because of that most of the Japanese Cosplayer are buying their costumes, of course there is still a notable number who like to craft their costumes by their own.
This time I want to write a shopping guide about getting goods for your self made Cosplays.
I will write a blog about buying Cosplays and wigs later.
I want to concentrate on Tokyo, because I think that everyone who will visit the first time Japan will start with Tokyo or at least stop over. Furthermore I am much more familiar with getting fabric and goods in Tokyo than in other cities, because I visited Tokyo several times already.
Getting fabric and dry goods:
Japanese fabrics and dry goods are quite affordable. Of course it is not cheap as in Taiwan and if you want some special goods be prepared to pay for it. But you can get 1 meter of your desired fabric for about 108 yen (75 Eurocents) if you are lucky. Japanese friends told me that the fabric prices in Germany are just crazy.
Generally spoken, Japanese fabrics are not only affordable they also have a good quality.
So you can make some good bargains and are still buying quality.
They also have a big variety of different fabric types. If you are looking for cute or typical Japanese prints you will find a large choice to choose from.
Gemstones can be cheap but you mostly will find yourself paying the same as in Germany.
Dry goods are in general cheaper than in Germany. They also offer a bigger choice and if you are lucky you can find reduced products and make a good deal.
If you want to buy cheap laces/ braids and gemstones, I would recommend buying them in Dubai.
The most of these stores are located near to the Nippori Station at the northeast of Tokyo.
This district is also well-known as “Nippori fabric town”.
At Nippori you will find one fabric store next to each other, offering dry goods, fabrics and more. You can enjoy fabric shopping the whole day.
Just be aware, that no one speaks English and you should be familiar with the goods you want to buy. Even the labeling is mostly in Japanese. So you should be able to read Japanese or know how a 100% cotton fabric looks and feels like. If not you might be lost or buy the wrong kind of fabric.
Like nearly everywhere in Japan most of the shops are only accepting cash payment. I haven’t seen an international ATM (or 7/11) in this district so withdrawal money before heading to this shopping paradise.
At Nippori the most famous shops are “Tomato”. You will recognize these shops very easily, because their company logo is a tomato.
Tomato owns several different stores at Nippori, which are offering different kind of fabrics.
You will also find a wide range of frequently reduced fabrics for 108 yen per meter. If you want to make a bargain I would recommend going to Tomato.
Location:
Station: Nippori (Yamanote Line/ Keisei Main Line/ Joban Line, Tohoku Main Line)
Exit: South east
Operating hours: Mostly 10 am – 6 pm (depending to the shop)
Map of the Nippori fabric town:

Shopping for Cosplay part 1: Shopping in Taipei

Shopping for Cosplay part 1: Shopping in Taipei

 Japan is the country of Anime and Manga.
And of course of Cosplay!
One of the main purposes of my last trip was to go shopping for my World Cosplay Summit Cosplays for next year in Japan.
We not only visited several Cosplay related shops in Japan but also in Taipei and Dubai.
All countries have a large choice of fabrics, wigs and other small materials like laces or gemstones.
Part 1: Cosplay shopping in Taipei:
Taipei is well known for cheap and good quality fabrics. We visited the
Yongle Fabric Market and found a large choice of fabrics and dry goods such as laces or gemstones.
The most fabric shops are located directly in the market at the 2nd floor. If you are looking for dry goods you should leave the market and take a look in the side roads.
Be aware that nearly no one speaks English
and that they are making different prices for foreigners. If you can
speak Japanese you can be lucky. We communicated mostly in Japanese or
just pointed the fabrics we wanted
to buy (this only works if you don’t have any questions…). You can
bargain if you are buying a bigger amount of fabrics, because there are
no prices shown. Special fabrics, like embroidered ones or Chinese ones
where quite cheap. But if you want to buy normal
unicolor fabrics be aware that it could be more expensive than in Japan
or Germany.
Generally speaking: Fabrics in Taipei are more expensive than in Japan-
But if you are looking for high quality and special fabrics you can make a good deal.
The dry goods had all price tags. Bargain
wasn’t possible, but if you are buying a bigger amount they just give
you some free dry goods. We could found a lot of awesome stones and
special accessories for Cosplays for
a very good price. We weren’t satisfied with the choices of laces and
most of the shops sold the same items. Also be aware that high quality
stones and gold laces are easier to get in Dubai for a cheaper price.
We were very disappointed regarding to wigs in Taipei. We only found one shop who offered cosplay wigs for order.
Because we had only a limited time in Taipei we didn’t looked further for Cosplayshops.
But we got the advice that you can buy good Cosplay accessories in Ximending.
Yongle Market Taipei
Operating Hours: Mon-Sat 10-18 hr
Next MRT Station: Beiman Station