Japan's fan base narrows to 33.6%, but the fans who remain are spending far more

A nationwide Intage survey finds the share of Japanese consumers with an active oshi narrowed to 33.6% even as core fans' spending on gaming and anime roughly tripled and doubled year on year — a shift that rewards fewer, deeper character-goods floors over broad ones.

The floortok desk · 2 min read · 13 September 2026

Editorial illustration — A Japanese character-goods retail floor with deep, tightly curated merchandise displays for a small number of titles, shoppers browsing closely stacked figures and goods under warm store lighting. — Illustration by floortok.com

The share of Japanese consumers who say they actively follow and support an oshi — a person or character they choose to root for and spend on — narrowed to 33.6%, according to a nationwide survey by the market-research firm Intage. At the same time, the amount that remaining fans spend rose sharply: Intage's own release, published 10 September, describes the pattern as "polarisation" — fewer self-identified fans, spending considerably more.