‘Very nerdy’ hobby of doujinshi self-publishing is a growing billion-dollar market in Japan

TOKYO – Coffee barista Misato Kashida, 42, sells medium dark-roast coffee by day.

But she has an alter ego as Kikuichi, a prolific cosplayer who takes on different personas, from an assassin coolly walking away from a cinematic explosion, to a picture of refined elegance as she trails behind an abbot, to a cyberpunk chick sporting a fierce gaze.

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