Entertainment

COSJOB: The Premier Cosplayer Job Searching Website in Japan

Cosplayers Archive’s website COSJOB is the premier cosplay job search website that allows cosplayers to connect with employers and companions.

August 9, 2021
  • Cosplaying, short for costume play, is a form of performance art that involves dressing up in costumes of specific characters, often anime related.
  • COSJOB is a cosplay specific job searching website that has over 480,000 users in Japan.
  • COSJOB allows for people in the subculture to connect easier, find jobs, as well as find companions to cosplay with.

What is Cosplay? And What is COSJOB?

Are you a cosplayer in need of a job?  Are you looking to take your cosplaying to the commercial market?  Or are you simply looking for others to cosplay with?  If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, COSJOB is the website for you.

COSJOB’s Front Page.
Image sourced from Anime Anime.

COSJOB is a new website launched on June 28th, 2018, operated by Cosplayers Archive, Japan’s largest social media network for cosplayers that allows cosplayers to find companions and cosplaying jobs.  Cosplay Archive has over 480,000 users.  

Cosplayers Archive. Image sourced from PR Times.

You may now be asking yourself, “what is cosplay?”  If so, cosplay is short for “costume play” and is a performance art that involves dressing up as specific characters, usually from one’s favorite movie or anime show.  

Cosplay Archive noticed the rising numbers of cosplayers who wanted to indulge in commercial activities, as well as a rise in “companies seeking cosplayers,” and decided to create a platform that would allow people to do exactly that.  

Cosplayers dressed up.
Image sourced from Mantan Web.

How it Works

The website essentially works like any other job searching site, but everything is cosplay-related.  COSJOB strives to make it easier for people in the subculture to connect.  The types of jobs listed on COSJOB include working at anime shops or cafes that want employees dressed up in cosplay costumes. 

COSJOB also has a wide range of jobs from one-time gigs, short-term jobs, part-time, and full-time positions.  Some shorter or part-time jobs include being staff at a cosplay or anime event, and longer-term jobs include working sales at retail stores.  Of course, Cosplayers Archive mentions that these full-time jobs require knowledge of the subculture.  

Further, Cosplayers Archive has made COSJOB a one-stop shop when it comes to looking for jobs.  Users can upload their resumes directly onto the site on their profiles.  COSJOB works like a social media network in the sense that by having a profile page with information, pictures, and resume attached allows for potential employers to browse for future employees easier.

Essentially, this is literally a social media network with personal profiles and everything alike but designed specifically for job searching.

Users can also communicate directly with potential employers through the site’s messaging function.  Here people can conduct or organize interviews.  

For those who post job offerings, it uses an extremely efficient management page that allows for everything on the posting to be laid out in order from the job description, to requirements, to recruiting to individual contracts, making it easy for people to browse for the best job for them. 

What it’s Like

COSJOB users often promote their profiles on other social media websites like Twitter to increase their chances of getting job opportunities or let their followers know what they’re up to.

For example, @bst_chu on Twitter is letting her followers know that she has posted a banner of photos to her COSJOB page and has another audition for a gig today.

COSJOB will also post to Twitter to recruit more people for large events where more staff is needed.  Below, COSJOB Tweeted about job opportunities at the Tokyo Amusement Hall for cosplayers offering part-time or full-time jobs.

Further, the listing below is a link used to apply for a position at the 2018 Winter Cosmall Itasha Show.  Itasha refers to cars that are customized and have anime paint jobs or wraps decorating them.  These cars are often very flashy and are covered in anime characters.  This job listing was for people to be dressed in cosplay costumes and attend the event.  

A cosplayer in front of an Itasha.
Image sourced from Moby.

If you are into cosplay and live in Japan, check out COSJOB for potential job opportunities! 

Sources:

https://www.animeanime.biz/archives/44861

https://job.cosp.jp/enter.aspx

Kevin Murasaki

Kevin Murasaki grew up moving back and forth between Chicago and Yokohama, Japan. Known as a "hafu", Kevin is half Japanese, and half American. Now a videographer and drone operator based in Fukuoka, Japan, Kevin enjoys playing basketball, driving on mountain or "touge" roads, and fishing in his free time. Kevin is a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia.

More articles by Kevin Murasaki

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