The Thai tourism authority has appointed ‘‘cosplay ambassadors’’ who are currently in Japan in a unique tourism drive to attract Japanese anime enthusiasts to experience the costume role-playing culture in Thailand.
The cosplay culture, in which people dress up as characters in Japanese anime, manga comic books and video games, originated in Japan but is also popular among youngsters in Thailand, where many grew up watching anime on television. Cosplay events are held almost weekly in Bangkok and some other cities in the Southeast Asian country.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand sees cosplay as a key to attract younger tourists from Japan.
‘‘In addition to promoting our traditional culture, if we let young Japanese anime fans know they can have exchanges in a common culture of cosplay here, then they may travel to the country,’’ said Jamnong Junnapiya, executive director of the East Asia Region at the office.
Cosplay ambassadors Pennapams Thawornpradit and Kanussawun Numviriyachoh, both 23 years old, were selected from 96 Thai cosplayers through an online popularity poll conducted on a Japanese website.
The two are in Japan until Nov 1.
‘‘I want to let the Japanese know that we have a big cosplay culture in Thailand,’’ Kanussawun said
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