How Much Do Japanese Fans Spend on Their Oshi? Average and Median Spending in the Latest Surveys (2026)

How much do fans spend on oshi-katsu each month? For businesses planning products and services, spending data can inform pricing and release plans. Prominent purchases on social media and survey averages alone, however, cannot describe customer budgets.

So we lined up the major surveys published in 2025 and 2026 and sorted them into average, median, age groups and breakdown. For the size of the whole market, see How Big Is the Oshi-Katsu Market?; this article sticks to the per-person picture.

Oshi-katsu is the everyday practice of supporting a favorite, an oshi, whether an idol, an actor, a streamer, a character or a team, with your time and money. Amounts below are in yen, as the sources give them. For orientation only, at ¥150 to the dollar, ¥100,000 is roughly $670. The surveys don’t all define oshi-katsu in the same way, and we explain why that matters below.

The Bottom Line: A ¥200,000 Average, a ¥40,000 Median

First, what the two measures mean. The median is the amount spent by the person standing exactly in the middle when everyone is lined up by spending. In a hobby where a small number of fans go all in, the gap between the two is large.

In the third oshi-katsu survey by CDG and Oshicoco, annual spending showed a wide gap between average and median (Manamina’s write-up of the survey, in Japanese).

The survey ran from January 15 to 22, 2026, among 23,125 men and women aged 15 to 69, and was released on February 4.

¥209,716

Average annual spending

¥40,000

Median annual spending

¥255,035

Average the year before

23,125

People surveyed, ages 15 to 69

A few big spenders pull the average far above the middle.

Source: Manamina (in Japanese)

Even monthly, the average is about five times the median. Read the average as what everyone typically spends and it will be far from what you actually see around you, because a few big spenders pull it up.

The same survey found that the average had dropped from ¥255,035 the year before, while the share of people doing oshi-katsu had grown. Read the widening participation and the change in average spending together.

The Major Surveys, Published 2025 to 2026

Check when each survey was published and who was surveyed before you compare the amounts.

The amounts can’t be ranked side by side, because each survey has different respondents and a different idea of what counts as spending.

Why the Numbers Differ From Survey to Survey

Three questions explain the differences: who was asked, what was counted, and whether the person sees it as oshi-katsu.

1. Who was asked

Ask only people who identify as doing oshi-katsu and the amounts naturally come out higher. The Yano Research Institute survey took consumers across 31 “otaku” fields as its base, so its average stays in the ¥50,000 range (Yano Research Institute release, in Japanese). In that survey, 64.2% of otaku had an oshi.

2. What was counted

Hakuhodo DY Group’s Content Fan Consumption Behavior Survey 2025 totals spending across 11 genres, including drama, anime, manga, film, music, games and sports. It came to ¥85,137 per person (roughly $570), up ¥6,034 from the previous year and the highest since the survey began in 2011. Meanwhile the number of people who spend is trending down (Nikkei XTREND explainer, in Japanese). Amounts are rising while the number of spenders falls, so spending is concentrating among the most passionate fans.

3. Whether people know they’re doing it

A survey released by Merpay, the payment arm of the flea-market app Mercari, on October 30, 2025 takes this point head on. About 60% (57.9%) were an “unaware oshi-katsu group,” people who don’t realize they are doing oshi-katsu, and even they averaged ¥39,000 a month (roughly $260) on things they “like” (Merpay’s announcement, in Japanese). Spending that people don’t recognize as oshi-katsu slips through the net of oshi-katsu surveys.

When you cite figures, put the survey name, publisher, year and respondents next to the amount. That alone explains most of the discrepancies.

Age and Genre Change Where the Money Goes

Cut by age, the same numbers look different. In the survey released by Video Research’s Hito Kenkyusho on March 25, 2026, the share of people who have an oshi topped 40% for the first time, at 40.9%. Among people in their 20s it is about 60%. Most striking: the group spending ¥100,000 or more a month is largest among people in their 20s (1.9%, an estimated 140,000 or so people) (Video Research survey results, in Japanese).

What the money buys also varies by age.

Younger fans put money into owning, older fans into going and watching. In the previous year’s CDG survey (released January 2025), the highest annual spending was among men aged 35 to 39, at ¥445,565 (roughly $3,000). Men aged 40 to 44 came next, and among women, those aged 30 to 34 ranked highest. The image of oshi-katsu as a pastime of teenage girls no longer matches reality when you look at the money.

Ages 10s to 40s

Owning

• Centered on buying merchandise
• Item counts grow and monthly swings are large

Ages 50s to 60s

Going and watching

• Works and concert tickets come first
• Spending on experiences leads

The highest annual spending in the earlier CDG survey was among men aged 35 to 39.

The Breakdown in Three Layers

Dividing oshi-katsu spending into three layers helps businesses see what customers pay for beyond their own products.

1. 01Direct spendingTickets, merchandise, CDs, dues, tips
2. 02Surrounding spendingTransport, lodging, food, magazines
3. 03Storage and preparationStorage, protection, insurance

The middle layer is the easiest to overlook.

1. Direct spending: tickets, merchandise, CDs, fan club dues, tips to streamers. Money that reaches the oshi or the rights holder
2. Surrounding spending: transportation, lodging, food on site, magazines. Money that doesn’t reach the oshi but that oshi-katsu requires
3. Storage and preparation: storage supplies, protective supplies, insurance. Costs that pay off later

The second layer is the easiest to overlook. In the trip spending survey Oshicoco released on April 15, 2026 (664 responses from people doing oshi-katsu), one trip, or ensei, cost about ¥59,000 on average. The most common answer was ¥30,000 to ¥50,000, at 33.7%. The most commonly cited highest-cost items were as follows (Oshimedia’s survey article, in Japanese).

A trip needs a big budget for getting there and staying overnight, not just for merchandise. How many trips you take a year and how you spend your time on site also shape the total.

¥59,000

Average cost of one trip

53.7%

Respondents naming transportation as highest-cost item

30.5%

Share spent on merchandise

9.5%

Share spent on lodging

Source: Oshimedia (in Japanese)

Trip counts and on-site spending are separate questions. Once you count sightseeing and food, a trip also puts money into the local region.

For reference, a 2019 survey by SHIBUYA109 lab. reported annual oshi-katsu spending of ¥150,000 (roughly $1,000) among young people at the time (SHIBUYA109 lab. report, in Japanese). What matters is less the amount than the fact that oshi-katsu was already a spending category in the ¥100,000-plus range more than six years ago.

The Biggest Worry: Sudden Expenses

What troubles fans is less the size of the amounts than their timing. In a survey Merpay released on December 10, 2025, 63.3% of people struggled to manage oshi-katsu spending. The most common reason, at 27.5%, was “hard to cope with sudden large expenses such as unexpected events or merchandise sales” (Mercari release, in Japanese).

What sets oshi-katsu apart from other household expenses is that you can’t choose when the bill arrives. Extra shows, limited merchandise with a short order window, sudden trips. Smoothing out the monthly average means nothing if you can’t pay in the month the cost hits.

The same survey reported that “circular oshi-katsu,” selling goods you no longer need on flea-market apps to fund the next purchase, was practiced by 16.2% overall and 34.7% of the company’s card users.

A Fan Budgeting Checklist

These budgeting approaches are examples of how fans can keep participating within their means.

• Set the cap from your own household budget. The median of ¥40,000 a year (about ¥3,300 a month) is a reference point. Secure living expenses and necessary reserves first, and don’t treat the average as a target
• Make oshi-katsu its own budget line. Separate it in a budgeting app or spreadsheet. Mix it in and all you’re left with is a vague feeling of being somehow short (see How to Keep an Oshi-Katsu Household Ledger)
• Save a sudden-expense pot apart from the monthly budget. Put money aside for extra shows and limited merchandise even in months you don’t spend (see How to Build an Oshi-Katsu Savings Fund)
• Manage trips by the number per year. The survey average is about ¥59,000 per trip, with two to three trips a year the most common response. Estimate totals from actual destinations and trip counts
• Check transportation costs. More than half of respondents named transportation as their highest-cost item. Compare costs alongside travel options and booking conditions
• Plan to let things go. Sell goods you don’t use early and put the proceeds toward the next purchase
• Review the whole household once a year. Redraw your cap as income and life change

Tips for students and for times when income is limited are collected in Money Matters for Student Fans.

Insurance Against Cancellation

Trips come with the risk that you can’t go. On May 1, 2025, the business daily Nikkei (Nikkei MJ) reported “Oshi-katsu: 20% Are Stung by Trip Cancellations, Only 10% Know About Insurance” (in Japanese). Micro short-term insurance that covers trip cancellations has appeared, and some examples won a Good Design Award in fiscal 2025.

Coverage and exclusions differ by product, so check the terms before signing up. It’s the kind of protection that is fine if most people never use it, but knowing it exists changes how you decide about a trip.

The Oshi Lab’s Take: Plan Products and Releases Around Fan Budgets

Average annual spending of ¥209,716 and a median of ¥40,000 are far apart. Businesses should be cautious about using the average alone to set prices. Total oshi-katsu spending is not a budget available for a single product.

Coping with unexpected expenses was a concern for 27.5% of respondents. A fan may want a product yet forgo it when concerts and travel costs overlap. Businesses need to consider release timing and the interval between announcement and purchase alongside price.

Nomura Securities describes oshi-katsu consumption as resilient even amid rising prices (Nomura Wealth Style explainer, in Japanese). Plans to increase purchases should still recognize that customer budgets are finite. Announce prices and release plans early, allow time to consider an order, and offer products at different prices.

Summary

• Average and median: ¥209,716 and ¥40,000 a year. Do not infer customer budgets from the average alone
• Survey conditions: Check respondents, definitions and self-identification to judge relevance to your customers
• Age patterns: Spending ¥100,000 or more a month is most common among people in their 20s. A separate survey puts men in their late 30s highest for annual spending. Read each finding in its survey context
• Spending categories: Use the tendency toward merchandise among younger groups and experiences and works among older groups as a reference for product use
• Participation costs: A trip averages about ¥59,000. Consider transport and lodging as well as product prices
• Sales planning: Review announcement timing and order windows in light of concerns about unexpected expenses
• Citation: Give the survey name, publisher, year and respondents together

What do your target fans spend money on, and when do costs overlap? Businesses need to read spending data alongside those circumstances when deciding price ranges, announcement timing and purchase windows.

This article is a general summary of published surveys and a way of thinking about your budget. It is not professional financial advice; for decisions about debt, savings or insurance, consult a qualified professional.

Related articles: How Big Is the Oshi-Katsu Market? / Money Matters for Student Fans / How to Keep an Oshi-Katsu Household Ledger / How to Build an Oshi-Katsu Savings Fund