A cosplayer and model, as well as a Tokyo Tourism Ambassador since 2023, Hakken—who prefers to be known only by their moniker—is an international star on the rise. With 3.7 million followers on Instagram, 1.5 million followers on Facebook and 988,000 followers on X (Twitter), they are an intriguing force. They use their 14 years’ experience of portraying fictional characters from anime, manga and video games to bring various ikémen (cool men) into reality. “The characters that I portray have traits that I like, but it’s not always something that I want for myself as much as it is something that I admire or find attractive,” the 2023 Gen.T honouree explains.
Cosplaying is an innovative craft focused not only on accurately recreating the visual appearance of a character, but also embodying the personality and carriage of said figure. Like a method actor, Hakken studiously reviews source material until they fully inhabit a role, understanding the emotional state as much as the physical gestures of a specific persona. Some of Hakken’s most impressive cosplays include Gojo Zhongli of Uchiha Itachi from and Bruno Bucciarati of
