Japan hopes 'oshikatsu' rage will open consumer wallets

In Japan, policymakers and economists are paying close attention to the 'oshi-katsu" phenomenon as a growing driver of consumer spending as 24-year-old Momoka Matsui is one of many doing her part to rev up the economy.

- SATOSHI SUGIYAMA

Matsui is part of an expanding demo-graphic of mostly 20and 30-some-things engaged in activities support-ing one's favourite celebrities, anime characters, or oddly, pretty much any oshi -- the Japanese term for the object of one's adulation.

"If my salary goes up, I'd like to go see concerts more often, even over-seas, more frequently," said Matsui as she, like many workers in Japan, waits eagerly for another year of bumper wage hikes.

Matsui, who does oshikatsu-related marketing and research as part of her overwork at advertising giant Hakuhodo, declined to identify her bands of choice due to conflict-of-interest con-cerns in her job.

The explosion of oshikatsu, which entered the mainstream lexicon during the pandemic, as a social phenomenon has economists and even the Bank of Japan taking note for its potential to prop up Japan's tepid consumption.