TOKYO — Not everybody snapping pictures at the Tokyo Motor Show is focusing on the cars. Many of the camera-toting folks roaming the massive exhibit halls over the past two weeks were more interested in the women whom automakers and parts companies hire to adorn their exhibits.
That’s not surprising. But in Japan, photographing lovely ladies in public places is pursued with such enthusiasm that there’s a name for practitioners: “camera kozo” – a kozo being a Buddhist disciple or a servant boy.
At big car shows, camera kozo – “kameko” for short – can be seen mobbing the models, known as “event companions,” pressing in close with telephoto lenses and snapping hundreds or thousands of digital images in a single day. Many kameko run websites on which they post photos of event companions, invite comments from visitors and blog about their favorites.
“We realize that we are at the auto show for a different reason (from most people),” said a 32-year-old information technology professional who goes by Makuhari. “There are actually many people who make the companions move away from the cars – so they can take a photo of just the car.”
Attractive and often scantily clad women have been a fixture at auto shows and racetracks worldwide for years. But in Japan they are something of a cultural phenomenon.
“Race queens,” who work under contract for Japanese auto racing teams, are especially popular, with some attaining the status of minor celebrities, complete with websites, fan clubs and swimsuit videos.
Event companions generally are less well-known. They wear more risque outfits than their counterparts at auto shows in the U.S. and Europe, although many of the major automakers have toned down the sex factor in recent years.
