How to Plan an Oshi-Katsu Event Fans Love: Goals, Flow and Safety

Whether an oshi-katsu event succeeds isn’t decided by how glamorous it looks on the day. The anticipation when someone sees the announcement, the reassurance when they sign up, the feeling of taking part at the venue, the afterglow of scrolling back through photos at home: what matters is whether you can design one continuous experience that includes the time before and after the event.

This article works in order, from setting goals through running the day to reviewing afterward, so it is usable even for companies and organizers planning their first event.

The Starting Point Is Emotion and Action

The first thing to decide is not the venue or the bonuses. It is who should go home feeling what, and what actions should follow naturally as a result.

“Getting people to talk about it on social media” is a result, not a goal. Posts come afterward, once fans have a reason to take pictures, a discovery worth telling others about, and an environment where sharing is safe.

Seven Steps for Building the Plan

1. Picture Your Target Fan Down to One Person’s Daily Life

“Women in their twenties” or “anime fans” isn’t enough.

• Have they been a fan for a long time, or is this their first event?
• Will they come alone, or with friends or family?
• Might they take part online from far away or overseas?
• Will they bring goods, or can they enjoy it empty-handed?
• Do they want to post photos publicly, or only keep a record?
• What range of time and budget do they have?

If there are several groups, don’t force them into one persona. Separate them, for example “first time, alone,” “longtime fan, with friends” and “can’t come in person,” and decide which group takes priority.

2. Build Layers of Participation

Not every fan wants to buy something or post about it. If you break involvement into layers, people with different levels of enthusiasm and budget can join the same project.

1. Watch — See displays, streams and progress updates
2. React — Vote, send a stamp, answer a short survey
3. Deliver — Send messages or support
4. Create — Choose colors and combinations and help shape the work or the decorations
5. Support — Choose paid items or special experiences

Be careful not to create an atmosphere where the person who spends more money or effort counts for more. Watching alone is welcome. Even without buying anything, you can enjoy the best part of the event. When fans feel that, they can stay involved for a long time with peace of mind.

Lightest involvementDeepest involvement

1. WatchDisplays, streams, progress
2. ReactVote, stamp, short survey
3. DeliverSend messages or support
4. CreateChoose colors, join the decoration
5. SupportPaid items or special experiences

Each layer is welcome. No layer makes a fan greater than another.

3. Connect “Before, During and After” Into One Line

An oshi-katsu event is designed across time, not just on the day itself.

It is not unusual for the date, price or what to bring to change after the announcement. When that happens, don’t delete the old announcement post. Delete it, and people who planned their schedule around it lose what they were checking, while only screenshots of the deleted post circulate on social media.

Instead, set up a single official page that gathers the latest conditions, and make it the place that is always correct whenever anyone looks. When something changes, add the update date and what changed to that page. Every social media post links to that same page.

That way, fans don’t have to scroll back through past announcements. They can open one link and check the current conditions. Organizers also no longer need to track which post is the latest.

1. 01Before announcementA reason to look forward to it
2. 02Sign-up and preparationInformation to choose without confusion
3. 03Just beforeGuidance that eases worry
4. 04The dayA sense of being part of it
5. 05AfterwardAfterglow and a next step

Fans live the whole line. Organizers should plan it that way.

4. Design a Venue Flow That Works Alone or Together

Oshi-katsu holds both the fun of getting excited with friends and the fun of sinking into a world by yourself. In Booklista’s 2026 survey (in Japanese), 59.2% of the 250 oshi-katsu users across Japan who responded on the oshi-katsu app Oshibana said they “basically do oshi-katsu alone.” The respondents skew young, with 50.4% of them in their teens, so treat the figure not as a share of all fans but as a clue for thinking about flow design.

At the venue, check the following:

• From reception to exit, can a first-timer tell where they are?
• Is there signage that keeps people waiting alone from feeling uneasy?
• Are there places and times only for those who want to socialize?
• Can people ask staff to take their photo, or use a phone stand?
• Are there clear paths to places for putting down bags, resting and restrooms?
• Do lines avoid blocking displays and evacuation routes?

Don’t leave it to the fans on the assumption that fans will naturally help each other. The organizer builds a system in which first-time visitors enjoy the event just as much.

5. Design the Photo Spot Through to After the Photo

Putting up balloons or a panel doesn’t automatically make a photo spot. It works only when you account for where people stand, where the camera goes, the lighting, the line and how people move afterward.

Checklist before production

• Did you confirm the oshi color from official materials?
• Do you have permission to use the logo, names, images and illustrations?
• Can people shoot it three ways: alone, in a group and with goods only?
• Can the main subject be seen from the eye level of wheelchair users and children?
• Is it hard for other visitors’ faces, name tags and payment screens to end up in the frame?
• Will the decorations stay upright, and do they avoid blocking evacuation routes and equipment?
• Have you agreed with the venue on how to attach things to walls and floors and how to restore them?
• How will you manage shooting time when it’s crowded?

KAZAORI’s balloon decorations (in Japanese) are proposed from scratch to suit the venue and purpose, from parties and anniversary events to photo booths, shops, announcements, concerts and sporting events. If you discuss where visitors will stand and how they will move, not just color and size, the decoration becomes part of the experience.

6. Decide Rights, Money and Safety First

The more intense the fan enthusiasm around a project, the more vague conditions turn into serious distrust.

• Rights — The permitted use of likenesses, songs, logos, characters and fan art
• Price — The total including tax, shipping and fees, and whether there are extra costs
• Sales — Quantities, purchase limits, stock, sell-outs, restocks and policy on resale
• Changes and cancellation — Refund conditions, and what happens with weather or a change of performers
• Personal information — How widely messages and names are displayed, and notice of photo and video recording
• Safety — Entry caps, lines, falls and trips, illness, evacuation and the staff contact network

When you collect support funds or joint production costs from fans, state before they sign up what the money will be used for and how any shortfall, surplus or cancellation will be handled. As with support ads and joint flower stands, transparency in accounting and permissions is what makes people feel safe joining.

7. Decide Success Metrics and the Review in Advance

So that you don’t cherry-pick convenient numbers after the event, decide at the planning stage which metrics correspond to your goal.

The number of posts shows only part of the response. Some fans share through private accounts or among friends, and some don’t post at all but keep a record they treasure. Don’t treat public posts as proof of participation.

A Planning Sheet You Can Use As Is

In your planning meeting, gather the following items onto one page. If any field can’t be filled in, settle it before moving on to decorations or production.

Linking Online Support to the Venue: PQuuut

One way to get fans involved before the event, including those who can’t come in person, is a co-creation support system.

PQuuut (in Japanese), offered by KAZAORI, the company behind The Oshi Lab, is a system that grows online support and turns it into balloon decorations at the venue. The basic flow described on the official page has four stages:

1. Publish a dedicated microsite for the event
2. As fans buy balloons or items that come with bonuses, the balloons on the screen move closer to completion
3. On the day, a balloon photo spot appears at the venue
4. Share the finished scene both at the venue and online

The point of the system is that the decoration is not a backdrop. It becomes the destination of a process fans took part in. People who can’t get to the venue can join online, and people on site can experience the completed scene.

1. 01MicrositeA dedicated site for the event
2. 02Fans buyOn-screen balloons near completion
3. 03Photo spotBalloons appear at the venue
4. 04ShareThe finished scene, on site and online

The decoration is the destination of what fans did together.

KAZAORI’s official site has a list of case studies (in Japanese) covering sports, entertainment and corporate events. We couldn’t find published materials that back up individual sales or attendance effects, so we give no figures for results here. If you are considering adopting it, agree in advance on the project’s goal and how you will measure it.

Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Deciding the decorations or bonuses first

The worldview may look polished, but it stays unclear what the event lets people experience. First write the feeling people leave with in one sentence, then check whether each means serves that feeling.

Asking every fan to socialize and post

Some people don’t want to socialize, and some don’t want to show their face or account. Make socializing, photography and posting all optional, and leave a way to enjoy the event quietly.

Stacking too much scarcity

Pile on time limits, quantity limits, purchase bonuses and rankings all at once and fun turns into anxiety. To prevent oshi-katsu fatigue, make the conditions to take part and the total cost easy to see at a glance.

Putting key information only in social media posts

Edits and reposts leave old conditions circulating. Make the official page the source of truth and show its update history.

Leaving nothing behind after it ends

Include thanks, photos of the finished scene, how participant messages are handled, a survey and the next announcement in the plan. Keep to the public scope people agreed to in advance.

Notes From The Oshi Lab: Don’t Make Fans Only an Audience

An event fans love isn’t necessarily a lavish one. It is one where a fan’s own choice or message becomes part of the scenery, and they feel, “I’m glad I was here.”

At the same time, ask too much participation of fans and support turns into work. What an organizer should build is not a mechanism that moves everyone, but a place where people, from those who only watch to those who want to build it together, can choose the distance that suits them. Room to take part, and the freedom not to. When both exist, co-creation lasts.

Summary

Planning an oshi-katsu event means deciding, in order, the goal, the target, layers of participation, a timeline that includes before and after, venue flow, rights and safety, and the review. Decorations and social media are the means of supporting that experience.

Start by writing “who should go home feeling what” in one sentence, then try filling in the planning sheet. For oshi-katsu events, PQuuut and venue balloon decorations, you can consult us through KAZAORI’s contact page (in Japanese). For the broader thinking behind event planning, see also oshi-katsu marketing.