This isn't related to the Japanese culture but I have to tell you about the Kogi BBQ. A must when you are in LA. This is a fusion of Mexican taco and Korean BBQ. One of the hottest signature items they offer is Korean short rib taco topped with seasame-chili salsa, lettuce, sesame seeds, Korean chili-soy sauce and topped with garnished with lime red radish wedges. Everyone is following Kogi BBQ on Twitter to track where Kogi truck will stop by next. It's getting rave reviews from local media and also via Internet media. Check out their website at www.kogibbq.com. And, follow their tweets at twitter.com/kogiBBQ.
Nov Takahashi, from the Japanese studio called Studio Hard, coined the term cosplay – a contraction of the English-language words costume play – while attending the 1984 Los Angeles Science Fiction Worldcon.[citation needed] He was so impressed by the hall and masquerade costuming there that he reported about it frequently in Japanese science fiction magazines. This follows a common Japanese method of abbreviation: combining the first two moras of each word to form an independent compound. Costume becomes kosu (コス), and play becomes pure (プレ).
» Natalie's Cosplay - Features mostly video game costumes, with a FAQ and jewelry shop.
Cosplay (コスプレ, kosupure), short for "costume roleplay", is a fan labor type of performance art whose participants outfit themselves, with often-elaborate costumes and accessories, as a specific character or idea. Characters are usually sourced in various Japan, South Korea, China, and Philippines media, including manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, hentai and fantasy movies. Other sources include performers from J-pop, J-rock, visual kei, fantasy music stories (such as stories by the band Sound Horizon), novels, and objects from cyberspace or the real world that are unique and dramatic (especially if they have or can be given an anthropomorphic form).
Cosplay participants ("cosplayers") form a subculture centered around wearing their costumes and reenacting scenes or inventing likely behavior inspired by their chosen sources. In some circles, the term cosplay has been broadened to include simply wearing a costume, without special consideration given to enacting characters in a performance context.
» Acme Boyz Cosplay - Photos and reports from a male anime cosplay group.
» A-Kon 15 Theater - Reports on A-Kon 15 2004 cosplay, costumes, films, and karaoke including galleries, visual and conceptual impressions, fine art prints, and vignettes of music, people, and theater.
» Alisa's Cosplay - Images sorted by character, individual and groups, CG cosplay, costume shop, personal information and links.
» American Cosplay Paradise - Features a searchable database of members, with photograph galleries, and a forum covering upcoming conventions and costumes
» Amethyst's Closet - Personal cosplay website including step-by-step tutorials. Accepts commissions.
» Angelic Star: Yaya's Cosplay - Costuming of Yaya Han. Costumes arranged by genre. Includes construction notes.
» Cosplay In Black - Anime, video game, manga and other costumes.
» Cosplay Island - UK cosplay site including member photos, news, tutorials, event reports, and community forum.
» Cosplay Kiseki - Photographs and summaries of her costumes, convention reports, and biography.
» Cosplay Portraits at Photino101 - Cosplay portrait galleries from the FanimeCon, AnimeExpo, Japantown Anime Fair, Metreon Festival of Anime, WonderCon, and other California events.
» Cosplay.com - Cosplay community anime, manga, role-playing games (rpgs), japanese rock (jrock), and japanese pop (jpop) can join. Has a forum and gallery for members to discuss and upload their photos from anime conventions.