NAGOYA: It takes intense dedication, hours of prep and a whole lot of sewing: dressing up as Japanese characters may not be an Olympic sport, but these competitors are at the top of their game.

Teams from 36 countries and regions faced off in central Japan on Saturday, having faithfully recreated the elaborate outfits, colourful hairstyles and allimportant attitude of their chosen anime, manga and video game stars.

The championship is part of the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, a three-day event that draws thousands of fans many keen to show off their own costumes.

`People really commit to cosplay competitions,` said Lettie Shiels from Britain, who won last year`s contest with her teammate Claudia Maw.

`We`re not just talking about week-ends and evenings I probably averaged about four hours` sleep for a good number of months,` she.

The pair, who go by the stage names Tsupo and C100d, met in cosplay circles over a decade ago and have seen their hobby transform from a crafty, DIY subculture into a global phenomenon.

Perfecting self-taught skills from make-up artistry to prosthetics, dressmaking and prop design is a key part of cosplay, a combination of the words `costume` and `play`.

In Nagoya, contestants are judged on the accuracy and quality of their costumes. `They go pretty hard on that. You have areference picture,and everything has to be exactly the same. If anything`s missing, you`ll have points docked, Shiels explained. -AFP