The eighth annual Nipponbashi Street Festa stamped Osaka March 20, 2012 (Nipponbashi is Osaka’s geek district – much like Akihabara is for Tokyo). Cosplayers turned up in colourful outfits, dressing as characters from their favourite manga, anime, and video games. The street was closed to cars, and otaku flooded the streets, snapping pics, cosplaying, and hanging out.

An orphaned 11 month old cougar cub plays at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on April 26, 2007 in Vallejo, California. Three cougar cubs were given to the park from the Idaho Fish & Game in March after they were found motherless in the wild and it was determined that they would not survive in the wild. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images)

Anna Sloan and Vicki Adams of Britain sweep during a match against Olympic Athletes from Russia in Session 1 of the Women' s Round Robin curling competition at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Curling Centre in Gangneung, South Korea on February 14, 2018. The British team won the match convincingly, 10-3. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Kelsey Smith of New Zealand gets her stick caught on the shorts of Hollie Pearne-Webb of England during Women's Semi Final Hockey match between England and New Zealand on day eight of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast Hockey Centre on April 12, 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

A cosplayer poses for a photograph during the Comic Market 90 (Comiket) event in Tokyo Big Sight on August 12, 2016, Tokyo, Japan. Many manga and anime fans wearing cosplay lined up in the sun for the first day of Comiket. Comiket was established in 1975 and focuses on manga, anime, gaming and cosplay. Organizers expect more than 500,000 visitors to attend this year's summer event which runs for three days until August 14. (Photo by Aflo/Splash News)

A young man looks over his shoulder as men watching a soccer match in a nearby bar ask why he isn't watching the game, while walking with his date during the men's gold medal soccer match between Brazil and Germany during Rio 2016 on Saturday, August 20, 2016. (Photo by Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

TVs display a reaction of Japan's Uta Abe, the gold medallist of the judo women's -52kg during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, to celebrate the victory of her brother Hifumi Abe as he wins the judo men's -66kg final at an electronics retail shop in Tokyo on July 25, 2021. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

Myanmar T-72 battle tank competes in an individual race of the Tank Biathlon competition as part of the 7th International Army Games 2021 at the Alabino training ground, Moscow region, Russia, 27 August 2021. The 7th International Military-Technical Forum “Army-2021” is held from 22 August till 04 September 2021 at 23 military training grounds of 11 countries. Five thousand participants of 277 teams from 42 countries compete in 34 military contests. (Photo by Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA/EFE)