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ABOUT US

About The Oshi Lab

The fans who support, and the people who are supported.
We know both sides, and we read the “why” of oshi-katsu from the field and the data.

The Oshi Lab (推し活未来研究所, Oshi-Katsu Mirai Kenkyujo, “Oshi-Katsu Future Lab”) is a research media outlet on Japanese fan culture, run by KAZAORI Inc. in Tokyo. We cover the present and future of oshi-katsu — the Japanese word for everything fans do to support their favorite person or character — from both the business side and the culture side. As a company that builds services for fan events, we are on the side that supports fan culture; our members also know what it feels like to stand on stage. We follow oshi-katsu through first-hand information.

What we do

  • The Oshi Lab podcast and YouTube — A weekly show (Mondays, 7 a.m. Japan time) digging into oshi-katsu trends and collaborations through voices from the field and data. Watch with English subtitles
  • Substack — Long reads in English on Japan’s fandom economy by our director Ayano Yazawa
  • note — Full editions of our weekly oshi-katsu news, and more (Japanese)
  • This website — The Oshi-Katsu Glossary and reports on business, psychology, money and more
  • Oshi-Katsu Future Certification — Planning and running a certification program that systematizes knowledge of oshi-katsu (Japanese)
  • Support for companies — Based on a case database of more than 1,000 oshi-katsu collaborations and fan-marketing cases, we help brands become brands that fans want to support, including through our diagnostic tool OSHI-MAP®
  • Fan services — We provide PQuuut, a system that livens up fan events

Editorial policy

To be a source people can cite with confidence, we write our articles by these rules.

  1. We cite our numbers — Market sizes and survey results come with verifiable sources: public statistics, research firms and companies’ published materials
  2. We put first-hand information first — Interviews on our podcast and YouTube, our case database and what we see in the field come first. We also cover important secondary information such as news reports and survey releases, and always say where it comes from
  3. People verify — We use AI in writing, editing and translation, but a person always checks the facts and makes the final editorial call
  4. We keep updating — Once a month we review articles where freshness matters: data, rules, prices and event information. We show an updated date only when we have substantially revised an article’s text, numbers or sources after publication
  5. We know our limits — Articles on psychology and money organize general information; they are not medical, legal or investment advice. For serious concerns, our articles point to professional services (in Japan)
  6. English edition — English articles are adapted from our Japanese originals, with context added for readers outside Japan. The Japanese original is the reference version, and every English page links to it

Citation policy

So that readers can check the basis of our articles, when we refer to third-party publications or reports we present them in a way that can be traced to the source. On the page, we clearly separate our summaries of facts from quotations.

  1. We confirm facts before reporting them — Dates, prices, numbers of people and event details are checked against published materials and organized from our point of view
  2. We mark quotations clearly — Statements and official positions are set off from our own text with quotation marks or block quotes, and quoted only as far as necessary
  3. We make sources traceable — Each item names the outlet and links to it, with the speaker’s name and, where needed, the article title or author
  4. We check rights to photos and figures — We publish them only when we can confirm permission, terms of use, a license, or the conditions for lawful quotation
  5. We respond to rights holders — If you notice an issue with a citation or rights, please contact us through KAZAORI Inc.’s contact form. We will review it and correct, add to or withdraw the content as needed

This policy follows Articles 32 and 48 of Japan’s Copyright Act(in Japanese) and the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ copyright guide for fiscal 2026 (in Japanese).

Who we are

Ayano Yazawa (Director, The Oshi Lab). CEO of KAZAORI Inc. and director of The Oshi Lab (推し活未来研究所). A professional bassist with experience as an idol producer and in event production, she provides the fan engagement system PQuuut to companies and professional sports clubs. Having built a new business in the oshi-katsu market from scratch herself, she studies oshi-katsu as both culture and business.

Kazuya Iwamoto (Editor-in-Chief, The Oshi Lab). Representative of AI no Aru Kurashi LLC. As editor-in-chief of The Oshi Lab, he plans, supervises and edits its articles. He has produced more than 20 YouTube channels with a combined 500,000+ subscribers and over 100 million views.

The company

The Oshi Lab is run by KAZAORI Inc., a Tokyo company that plans, consults on and builds services for the oshi-katsu field. For interviews, talks and brand collaborations, please use ourcontact form. We are happy to hear from media and researchers outside Japan.

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