We wanted a place to talk about oshi-katsu as a structure, not only as passion

Content about oshi-katsu, the practice of actively supporting your oshi, has grown mostly around concert reviews and fan voices. There were still few places to think, from both a business and a psychology angle, about “Why is this IP loved?” and “How do companies face fans’ feelings?”

That is why we started The Oshi Lab. Instead of just lining up past success stories, we break down fan behavior and think about what will happen next. The “Lab” in the show’s name carries the wish to be a place where we research together rather than hand out answers.

100,000 total plays. The numbers showed us how far we had reached

In one year, cumulative plays across the podcast and YouTube passed 100,000. We started from zero, of course. Every week we chose a theme, researched it, talked it through and cut it into short videos too. That accumulation reached new people through search and recommendations.

Spotify alone had grown into the 1,400s at the time of recording. The scale looks different from short social videos, but one podcast play means spending 20 to 40 minutes together. It is important to look at the depth of contact time, not only the size of the play count.

The biggest surprise: so many of our listeners are adult men

Many people hear the word oshi-katsu and picture women in their teens and twenties. Yet Spotify’s core audience was 45 to 59, and men made up more than half. Some listeners took oshi-katsu not just as a hobby topic but as a source of hints for markets, brands and organization-building.

In episodes on the idol groups Snow Man and timelesz and on the Takarazuka Revue, the number of female listeners also grew. Who listens changes with the theme, and some of them stay on for the next episode. By not closing ourselves into a single assumed audience and instead building a new way in for each theme, the show’s audience widened.

YouTube built reach, and the podcast built depth

On YouTube, short videos and recommended feeds reach people who don’t know the show yet. Themes with a strong following, such as our Snow Man analysis video, became a big way in, leading to long-form videos and channel subscriptions.

On the podcast, the core audience is people who search on their own and listen for a long time by ear alone. Even with the same content, the way people discover it and the way the relationship deepens are different. Rather than choosing one or the other, giving reach and depth separate roles was the way of running the show that emerged over this past year.

MEDIA LOOPA media loop from discovery to trust to work
  1. Discover in short videosRecommendations and social media
  2. Understand in long formMain YouTube episodes
  3. Listen deeply in audioPodcast and search
  4. Trust the thinkingOngoing viewing and sharing
  5. Lead to inquiriesTalks, supervision, and business

Organized by The Oshi Lab based on the results introduced in Episode 50.

Work didn’t come from short videos alone. People found us again and again, learned how we think through long explainers, and built trust over the time they spent listening to the podcast regularly.

A media outcome should be judged by what kind of relationship it creates beyond the play count. The increase in talks and project consultations was proof that the show had become a place where KAZAORI walks alongside its clients.

By keeping at it, the show became a doorway to work

Companies that listened to the show began sending requests for talks, event supervision, interviews and collaboration consultations. We didn’t gather people all at once with ads. It was the result of showing how we think in weekly episodes and building relationships, bit by bit, with people who resonated.

PQuuut, our fan-participation service, has also spread to sports and music venues. The idea we talk about on the show, “giving the wish to cheer someone on a good form,” connects with the actual service, so the people who reach out already understand the company’s stance.

MEDIA LEARNINGFour lessons for running a show, from one year

  • Look at listening time and retention, not only play counts
  • If the assumed audience and the real data differ, rethink the programming
  • Answer the questions people search for, in both title and body
  • Combine a medium that spreads with a medium that deepens, by role

Summary: behind the numbers was people’s wish to cheer someone on

  1. Talk about structureWe created a place to study oshi-katsu from both the market and fan psychology.
  2. Separate the rolesWe combined the reach of YouTube with the depth of the podcast.
  3. Grow relationshipsSteady output became trust and led to points of contact for consultations and business.

Even when we study numbers and strategy, what lies beneath is the feeling of “wanting to support someone.” The oshi-katsu business shouldn’t be a mechanism that pushes people to spend against their will; it should let them give shape to that feeling with peace of mind.

The 100,000 cumulative plays are not a finish line but a doorway to starting the next research with the people who listen. We will add more conversations with guests and reporting from the field, and move toward a show that connects the voices of those who support, those who are supported and those who build the experiences.