View source for Hideaki Kobayashi (cosplayer)

{{Short description|Japanese cosplayer (born 1962)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = Hideaki Kobayashi Comic Market 91 Day 1- Cosplayers (cropped).jpg
| alt                = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption            = Kobayashi in 2016
| native_name        = 小林 秀章
| native_name_lang   = ja
| birth_date         = {{Birth year and age|1962}}
| birth_place        = [[Suginami Ward]], Tokyo, Japan
| other_names        = Sailor Suit Uncle
| alma_mater         = [[Waseda University]]
| occupation         = [[Cosplayer]], [[computer engineer]], [[Music producer]], [[Photographer]]
| years_active       = 
| known_for          = Cosplaying as school girls
}}

{{Nihongo|'''Hideaki Kobayashi'''|小林 秀章|Kobayashi Hideaki}} is a Japanese [[cosplayer]], [[computer engineer]], [[music producer]], and [[photographer]]. He is known for cosplaying as a schoolgirl. He is nicknamed as {{Nihongo|'''Sailor Suit Uncle'''|セーラー服おじさん|Sērā-fuku Ojisan}}.<ref name=Oricon/>

==Biography==
He was born in 1962 in [[Suginami Ward]], Tokyo.{{Sfn|Tanaka|2019|p=4}}
He said in an interview with ITmedia that his "hobby" of cosplaying dates back to when he was in first and second grade, when he lifted his female classmate's skirt, for which he was forced to wear a [[Sailor fuku|sailor suit]] in front of his classmate as punishment. He attended Toho Middle School and High School, an [[all-boys school]].<ref name=ITmedia/>{{Sfn|Okuda|2014|p=1}} He majored in Mathematics at the Faculty of Science and Engineering at [[Waseda University]], where he also finished his master's study.{{Sfn|Tanaka|2019|p=4}}{{Sfn|Okuda|2014|p=1}} He said that this is the time when he enjoys cross-dressing in his room and secretly wearing panties.{{Sfn|Tanaka|2019|p=1}}{{Sfn|Okuda|2014|p=1}} He works as an information processing software engineer at a printing company.{{Sfn|Tanaka|2019|p=4}} He said that he started cosplaying after being at a cosplaying convention in May 2010.<ref name=CNN/><ref name=ITmedia/>

In June 2011, he was invited by his friend to visit a [[ramen shop]] in Yokohama that giveaway free [[ramen]] if a customer over 30 dressed up like a school girl. He started cosplaying after he found that people did not have a negative reception for his cosplay. Following that, he started walking around the streets of [[Shibuya]] every weekend.{{Sfn|Tanaka|2019|pp=2, 4}}

===Viral===
He went [[Viral phenomenon|viral]] on [[Twitter]] and the Japanese internet in 2013 after he was found [[cosplaying|dressed up]] in a [[sailor fuku|Japanese school girls' uniform]] (sailor suit).<ref name=CNN>{{cite web |last1=Ripley |first1=Will |title=A 51-year-old male schoolgirl? Meet Tokyo's inspirational cross-dresser |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/19/world/asia/japan-inspirational-cross-dresser/index.html |website=[[CNN]] |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=en |date=20 July 2014}}</ref><ref name=Kotaku>{{cite web |title=This Is Just a Middle-Aged Man Dressed as a Japanese Schoolgirl |url=https://kotaku.com/this-is-just-a-middle-aged-man-dressed-as-a-japanese-sc-479226302 |website=[[Kotaku]] |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=en |date=24 April 2013}}</ref><ref name=ITmedia/><ref name=Oricon>{{cite web |title=【コミケ90】セーラー服おじさん、会社を休んでコミケ来場 |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2076702/full/ |website=[[Oricon]] |access-date=8 April 2025 |date=October 21, 2017}}</ref>

A stamp of him was made by the messaging app, [[Line (app)|Line]].<ref>{{cite web |title=「セーラー服おじさん」のLINEスタンプが出たぞ！！ |url=https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/1410/24/news080.html |website=ITmedia |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=ja |date=October 24, 2014}}</ref> He was invited 10 times to various events in China and countries like Spain, Cuba, France and Thailand.{{Sfn|Okuda|2014|p=3}}<ref>{{cite web |title=「セーラー服おじさん」はタイにもいた！ 日本のセーラー服おじさんと対面し濃厚コラボを果たす |url=https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/1611/19/news013.html |website=ITmedia |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=ja |date=November 19, 2016}}</ref> A portrait of him was displayed in a subway station in [[Bangkok]], Thailand.{{Sfn|Tanaka|2019|p=2}}

===Other ventures===
Kobayashi also works as a [[computer engineer]] with a [[patent]], and [[photographer]] and [[music producer]] for Chaos de Japon.<ref name=Kotaku/>

==Reception==
Many tourists visiting [[Akihabara]] in [[Tokyo]] have praised Kobayashi.<ref name=ITmedia>{{cite web |last1=Sonoko |first1=Ikeda |title=実はアイドルグループの一員だった！ 話題沸騰中の「セーラー服おじさん」に会ってきた |url=https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/1304/23/news042.html |website=ITLab |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=ja |date=April 23, 2013}}</ref> [[CNN]] praised Kobayashi calling him "courageous" for dressing up.<ref name=CNN/>

Zenbei, a character from the game ''Nippon Marathon 2'', was inspired by him.<ref>{{cite web |title=セーラー服おじさん、「Nippon Marathon 2」に参戦！プレーヤーに"チャレンジ"を与えるキャラクターに |url=https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1281549.html |website=Impress |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=ja |date=8 October 2020}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Kobayashi is a straight man and is attracted to women.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moye |first1=David |title=SAY CHEESE: Japan's Most Famous 'Schoolgirl' Is A Man |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hideaki-kobayashi_n_5599987 |website=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=en |date=18 July 2014}}</ref> He is fluent in English.{{Sfn|Okuda|2014|pp=3–4}}

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist}}
===Citations===
* {{cite web |title=セーラー服おじさんが世界で感じた、日本のコンテンツビジネスの可能性 {{!}} Forbes JAPAN 公式サイト（フォーブス ジャパン） |url=https://forbesjapan.com/articles/detail/28143 |website=[[Forbes Japan]] |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=ja |date=August 3, 2019|first=Morishi|last=Tanaka|ref={{SfnRef|Tanaka|2019}}}}
* {{cite web |last1=Okuda |first1=Yuka |title=「なぜ人気になったか分からない」 「セーラー服おじさん」という"社会実験"から見えたものとは |url=https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/1406/30/news042.html |website=ITmedia |access-date=8 April 2025 |language=ja |date=June 30, 2014|ref={{SfnRef|Okuda|2014}}}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat|Hideaki Kobayashi}}
* {{official website|http://www.growhair-jk.com}}
* {{Twitter|growhair}}
* {{Instagram|sailor_grandpa}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Hideaki}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century Japanese photographers]]
[[Category:Cosplayers]]
[[Category:Japanese record producers]]
[[Category:People from Nakano, Tokyo]]
[[Category:People from Suginami]]
[[Category:Waseda University alumni]]