Since around 2012, Enako has been a popular cosplayer, but in the past few years, her popularity has exploded. Last night, she appeared on Downtown DX, one of Japan’s most popular variety talk shows and astonished all with her sizeable salary.
In the above image, the banner in the top right corner reads, “Japan’s Top Cosplayer Enako [Her] Surprising Monthly Salary.”
As 2ch points out, the segment that introduced Enako showed a thousand people lining up for her booth at an event, while another clip showed her encircled by 500 photographers during a cosplay photoshoot.
Cosplay has turned into serious money for her. In December alone, she made over $90,000. The show’s other celebrity guests were surprised!
She’s doing better than she was in 2016 when she said she was making around $9,000 a month.
Enako explained that game and anime companies hire her to be their official cosplayer, even appearing in TV commercials.
She also does regular hour-long talks on Live.me, where she can make over $1,800 in just an hour, thanks to viewer contributions. She also sells her photobooks and goods.
If you haven’t been playing attention, cosplay has become very, very profitable.
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