Prize-winning works in the “Photo and Essay Division” for high school students of the 30th Yomiuri Photo Grand Prix

My Friend is “Akiba-kei” / Saito Akiko (Aomori)

Message from the photographer

The girl in the picture is what people call an “Akiba-kei” or otaku: she loves anime and manga. She is also a “cosplayer,” who loves to dress up in costumes of her favorite characters. But she is completely different from the stereotypical image of an otaku; she is an ordinary high school girl who falls in love and loves dressing fashionably. She is at her most lively when absorbed in her study of fashion, the subject she's crazy about. No matter how people might see her, she expresses herself in a way that makes clear what she loves.

Her boldness had a big impact on me. I admire her confidence in herself and her straightforward outlook on life. I hope you can get a feel for her just as she is from these photographs.

About the subject

My subject and I have been friends since junior high school. She has always been the one with the gorgeous clothes, catching everyone's attention; and she's pretty. The reason I chose her as my subject is, above all, she is my number one interest. People who come across her on an ordinary day would never guess that she is an otaku who loves to cosplay. But the fact is, that's who she is. I chose her because I wanted to create a record of a girl who is open about what she loves and lives with energy and enthusiasm.