>>8681019You've never been, have you?
I went last year. You can wear cosplay anywhere in the venue. Photography is only permitted in the designated zones because of congestion.
You are correct that you are not allowed to wear your cosplay to the venue. You need to pay to use their changeroom and get your cosplay registration. Once that's done, you can wander wherever you want. I saw hundreds of dudes dressed as touhous and hundreds of girls dressed as boats, plus lots of other series wandering all over buying things.
It's also wrong that the photogs are only interested in cute japanese girls in skimpy outfits. Lots of the well made cosplay got way more attention. There was a Porco Rosso with lawn chair that always had about a dozen people taking his picture. A really good Space Dandy. A full group of Hoozuki no Reitetsu. If your cosplay looked good, a crowd would form to take pictures. Simple as that.
>>8684811As far as I know, all the lolita stores will be open over new years. Most do fukubukuro (lucky bags) or have big sales at the start of the year. Some malls close on the 1st in order for all the stores to gather and organize stock for sales on the 2nd. Do some research in advance. In Tokyo, the closures mostly affect banks, museums, gardens, some restaurants and the like. Bigger shops seem to stay open.
