It looks like cosplaying can be quite a lucrative business.
Enako, 22, is a cosplayer from Japan who was recently featured the on Japanese talk show Nakai no Mado to talk about Comiket, a large annual anime convention in Japan. During the interview, Enako revealed that she makes over 1 million yen (roughly $9,700) per month.
I’m in the wrong business! How someone can make so much money dressing up like other characters is completely beyond me, but I digress…
1時間という短い尺の中で伝えることができなかったけど!
私だってキャラ愛あるし衣装製作もしてます💪😭(写真4枚とも)
ただ、1番好きなジャンルがエロゲだからメディアではなかなか話せないだけなのです😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/7DmZ80gWvp— えなこ (@enako_cos) September 16, 2016
Enako broke down to the host how she makes money: For live appearances in front of fans, she makes between 300,000 and 400,000 yen ($3,000 – $4,000) per gig.
However, her biggest moneymaker is selling merchandise like her photo collections, which she claims made her nearly 10 million yen (roughly $100,000) in two days at the recent Comiket.
To be fair though, Cosplaying is not easy work. It takes many hours of work to be able to create costumes and props that resemble the real thing. When companies are willing to fork over that much money to book cosplayers, you know there’s a clear demand for it.