What is oshikatsu and can it boost Japan's economy?

Business Daily

BBC

News, Business

4.4 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The superfan culture involves doing everything you can to be closer to your idols - often through concerts, merchandise, and streaming support.

And now oshikatsu is being praised by some economists for helping pull Japanese retail sales out of a long slump.

Figures suggest the role of fan purchasing power has boosted Japan’s annual retail turnover by 2%.

But what is so different about the way of supporting our heroes that has created such growth?

Produced and presented by Rick Kelsey

(Image: Anime and game fans attend the 105th ComicMarket Show in Tokyo, Japan, December 2024. Credit CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:09.8	Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm Rick Kelsey.
0:13.8	Today we're in Tokyo learning about a way of living which some believe could be an answer to boosting the Japanese economy.
0:21.7	So these are like basically little cards and you can collect cards and then I'm just
0:26.4	browsing around to see if there's anything more I like.
0:28.8	Yeah, we're basically window shopping.
0:30.7	This store is incredible.
0:31.8	There's a lot of goods.
0:33.7	It's called Oshikatsu and means a desire for fans to be closer to their idols, as well as offering support, it also has an economic side as fans buy tickets and merchandise.
0:45.4	And now, corporate Japan has started to take notice.
0:48.9	I'm getting so much positive energy vibes.
0:52.7	So this is part of your job now?
0:54.2	It is, man.
0:55.1	I feel the Oshikatsu full on, right in the face.
0:59.3	Seriously.
1:00.2	We'll meet the promoters and the people spending money on their heroes,
1:03.7	some human, some animated.
1:05.3	I feel like, well, I'm trapped.
1:07.8	I'm trapped.
1:09.4	But.
1:10.2	Happily trapped. Happily trapped. So what? I love it. Then I'm happy, but... Happily trapped. Happily trapped.
1:11.6	So what?
	...

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