12.86M Join Bruno Mars on Roblox as Ito En Partners with the WBC: Weekly Oshikatsu News (Jan 30, 2026)
Here is our weekly roundup of notable corporate oshikatsu (fan support activities) marketing and fan business news from the week of January 23 to January 29, 2026.
This Week’s Highlights
The defining theme of this week was that the scale at which fans gather surpassed conventional expectations.
A virtual concert by Bruno Mars held inside Roblox on January 18 recorded a peak concurrent user count of 12,862,161 people. That marked the largest audience in history for a virtual concert by a solo artist. The venue, the game STEAL A BRAINROT, has logged more than 54.4 billion cumulative visits, and more than 5.42 million limited-edition items were distributed during the event.
There was major movement in physical venues and real-world campaigns as well. Ito En became an Official Global Partner of the 6th World Baseball Classic (WBC), and its flagship brand Oi Ocha was selected as the official green tea across the entire tournament. Ito En stated that it plans to roll out global promotions centered on baseball star Shohei Ohtani. Meanwhile, Nagano Prefecture teamed up with 21 influencers and creator groups for a regional migration initiative, growing requests for informational materials to 2.3 times the level of the same month a year earlier. And Myaku-Myaku, the official mascot of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, was named Person of the Year at the Japan PR Awards.
- 12,862,161
- Peak concurrent users at Bruno Mars's Roblox virtual concert
- 5,428,644
- Limited-edition Brunito Marsito items collected by Roblox players
- 2.3x
- Year-over-year increase in Nagano Prefecture migration brochure requests
- 45 companies
- Record number of anime studios and businesses exhibiting at WakuWork 2027
Source: The Oshi Lab’s summary of the article
12.86 Million Join a Roblox Concert as Virtual Live Events Break Through a New Wall
Bruno Mars x Roblox — The Largest Audience in History for a Solo Artist
On January 18, a Bruno Mars virtual concert took place inside the Roblox game STEAL A BRAINROT. The peak number of concurrent users reached 12,862,161 people, setting an all-time viewership record for a virtual concert by a solo artist. Held as the game’s first-ever pop-up concert format, the event featured Bruno Mars performing his latest song “I Just Might” alongside his hit “Locked Out of Heaven.” Users collected a total of 5,428,644 limited-quantity “Brunito Marsito” digital items. Social media video clips were rolled out across more than 38 countries and in 20 languages, generating over 53 million combined views, while livestreams were broadcast across 14 countries and 9 languages (Mogura VR (in Japanese)).
The game chosen as the venue, STEAL A BRAINROT, had already accumulated more than 54.4 billion total visits.
Lab Note: The decisive factor here was that the organizers did not build their own standalone venue from scratch, Instead, they borrowed a space where a massive crowd had already gathered. A figure of 12.86 million people is roughly equivalent to filling the Tokyo Dome 230 times over. Rather than pouring effort into luring fans into a brand-new space, choosing to visit the places where fans already spend their time proves far more effective. This follows the exact same structural logic as Hotto Link’s “politely dropping in on existing communities” approach that we covered in our January 9 issue.
Dark Escape Shinjuku Kabukicho — An Immersive Escape Game Featuring Popular Voice Actors
On January 27, MRX announced that it would soon open a new immersive escape game venue, “Dark Escape Shinjuku Kabukicho,” in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Kabukicho district. Combining sensor-linked stage effects, spatial audio, and synchronized lighting control, the facility was designed so that even first-time players can enjoy stepping into the role of the story’s protagonist. Three distinct themes are planned, starting with the magical fantasy adventure The Academy of Primordial Magic (Shigen no Mahouin) as the first installment and the medieval-set Ephira, Land of Phantom Dreams (Genmu no Kuni Efira) as the second. Popular voice actors Saori Hayami and Tomokazu Sugita were confirmed to perform the voice acting for the productions (Mogura VR (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: By casting prominent voice actors in an escape game, MRX has established a clear hook for drawing visitors. There is a distinct segment of fans who decide whether to attend an attraction not based on the difficulty of the puzzles, but on whose voice guides the story forward. For companies operating location-based entertainment facilities, voice casting has reached a stage where it should be viewed not merely as a production expense, but as a direct customer-acquisition investment.
Sports and Local Governments Moved People Using Oshikatsu Techniques
Ito En x WBC — Taking “Oi Ocha,” the Green Tea Shohei Ohtani Drinks Every Day, to the World
On December 17, 2025, Ito En announced that it had become an Official Global Partner of the 6th World Baseball Classic (WBC) and that its flagship beverage “Oi Ocha” had been adopted as the Official Green Tea of the entire tournament. Ito En announced plans to place the beverage at official press conferences and conduct product sampling at stadiums. Having established its New York subsidiary in the United States in 2001 and begun full-scale overseas expansion of Oi Ocha in 2003, the company had already been experiencing sustained double-digit sales growth in the US market (Sanspo (in Japanese)).
Vice President Shusuke Honjo stated, “We will share the appeal of Oi Ocha not only in Japan and the United States, but across the entire world.”
Lab Note: According to Ito En, Shohei Ohtani’s habitual consumption of Oi Ocha led to his global ambassador contract. The company presented its WBC sponsorship as another step in its international expansion. This case clearly illustrates that the single most powerful element in a long-term ambassador partnership is authentic, everyday use by the ambassador.
Nagano Prefecture — Information Requests Jump 2.3x Through Partnerships with 21 Influencer Groups
Nagano Prefecture secured the number-one spot for the 20th consecutive year in the “Prefectures People Most Want to Move To” ranking published by Takarajimasha’s magazine Inaka Gurashi no Hon (Book of Country Living). In fiscal 2024, the number of residents moving into Nagano from outside the prefecture reached an all-time high of 3,747 people, while migration consultations ranked first nationwide at 25,891 inquiries. The prefecture’s comprehensive migration web media platform, SuuHaa, had previously been praised for communicating from an “un-bureaucratic” perspective, becoming the first website operated by a prefectural government agency in Nagano to win a Good Design Award in fiscal 2021. In fiscal 2025, the prefecture appointed 21 influencers and creator groups with ties to Nagano as its first-ever “Nagano Prefecture PR Partners.” Together, they released collaborative videos built around the theme of “Migration x Shinshu Yamahoiku” (Nagano’s nature-based outdoor childcare certification system). The prefecture reported that requests for informational materials through SuuHaa rose from 15 in August 2024 to 34 in August 2025, approximately 2.3 times the initial figure, and presented the increase as a result of the initiative (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: What caught our attention here was the sheer number of partners Nagano Prefecture worked with: 21 distinct groups. Rather than relying on a single mega-influencer, the prefecture lined up creators who each connect with a different community. Moreover, because the prefecture sets a clear theme for each wave of posts, separate dispatches from diverse voices come together into a single cohesive message. This campaign structure offers a valuable blueprint not only for municipalities, but for any company looking to reach multiple fan segments at once.
Myaku-Myaku — Named Person of the Year at the Japan PR Awards
On January 23, the Public Relations Society of Japan held the awards ceremony for the Fiscal 2025 Japan PR Awards, selecting “Myaku-Myaku,” the official character of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, as its Person of the Year. Looking back on the mascot’s early days, Jun Takashina, Deputy Secretary General of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, remarked, “When Myaku-Myaku was first unveiled, people said all sorts of harsh things—calling it scary or creepy—and I actually witnessed children bursting into tears several times myself.” He added, “Even during the period before the Expo opened when public excitement was lacking, Myaku-Myaku fought hard on the front lines, traveling all across Japan to keep public interest in the Expo alive” (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: A character that faced intense criticism at its initial unveiling ultimately went on, after the 184-day Expo run, to win the Fiscal 2025 Person of the Year honor at the Japan PR Awards. Had the organizers pulled the plug on the design based on the initial public reaction, this outcome would never have happened. The more frequently and the longer people see a character, the more fondness and attachment they naturally develop toward it. We view this as a clear case demonstrating the danger of judging the success or failure of an intellectual property based solely on short-term reactions.
Apparel and Retailers Placed Characters Right on Everyday Shelves
Uniqlo UT — Celebrating 10 Years of “MAGIC FOR ALL” with Custom Embroidery
Uniqlo announced the February 9 release of a new graphic T-shirt (UT) collection titled “MAGIC FOR ALL ICONS.” The lineup features beloved characters from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel, priced at 1,990 yen across eight men’s designs and 990 yen across six kids’ designs (tax included). The collection was planned to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the “MAGIC FOR ALL” project, which originally launched in 2015. Alongside the shirts, the embroidery customization service at “RE.UNIQLO STUDIO”—which we previously highlighted in our January 16 issue—had been offering eight Disney character designs since January 9. Priced at 1,000 yen per embroidery mark, the service was available at 18 stores nationwide (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: What makes this pricing structure so intriguing is seeing a 990-yen kids’ T-shirt sitting in the exact same price bracket as a 1,000-yen embroidery service. When a brand offers the experience of buying an item and the experience of customizing it at roughly the same price point, fans can easily opt for both. Providing a touchpoint where customers don’t just buy an IP product as-is, but add their own personal touch to it, deepens fan engagement far beyond a simple transaction price.
Lawson’s 50th Anniversary Ichiban Kuji, Shimamura x Hapidanbui, and Crocs x RIIZE
Starting January 24, BANDAI SPIRITS launched the “Ichiban Kuji LAWSON 50th Anniversary” prize lottery at Lawson convenience stores nationwide. Priced at 700 yen per draw (tax included), the lineup features a storefront-shaped alarm clock that plays the “Happiro! Song” as Prize A, while Prizes B and C offer a blanket and a plush toy modeled after Lawson’s signature Karaage-kun fried chicken mascot (Inside (in Japanese)). On the same day, January 24, apparel retailer Shimamura released new items featuring Sanrio’s boy-band unit “Hapidanbui,” with select sweatshirts available in extended sizes up to 3L and 4L (Inside (in Japanese)). Meanwhile, on January 29, Crocs released special Jibbitz shoe charms modeled after “WE LITTLE RIIZE,” the original self-designed characters created by the members of K-pop group RIIZE, who have served as Crocs Japan ambassadors since March 2025 (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: It is noteworthy that Lawson chose to celebrate its own 50th anniversary with an Ichiban Kuji prize lottery built around its in-house mascots and store motifs. Corporate anniversaries often default to company history retrospectives or standard discount sales, but turning an existing asset like Karaage-kun into collectible merchandise gives fans something much more tangible and fun to pick up. The longer a company has been in business, the more likely it is to have dormant character assets waiting inside the organization.
Naturaglacé x Pokémon — Building Early Buzz with an Eight-Day Pop-Up
Naturaglacé, a makeup brand made with 100% naturally derived ingredients, announced a limited-quantity collaboration featuring six Pokémon-themed cosmetics items. The brand announced an eight-day pop-up event running from February 4 to February 11 at RAYARD MIYASHITA PARK in Shibuya, Tokyo, where shoppers purchasing three or more products would receive an original gift box while supplies lasted. Advance sales were scheduled to begin on February 4 via the brand’s online store and selected Pokémon Center locations, ahead of the nationwide retail release planned for February 18 (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: Naturaglacé announced an eight-day pop-up shop scheduled to begin a full two weeks before the nationwide retail launch. That staggered schedule creates a natural flow: fans who experience and purchase the products early share their impressions on social media, ensuring that the lineup is already well known by the time nationwide sales begin. Especially for limited-quantity merchandise, staggering the timing of hands-on experiences and broader retail availability works much better than concentrating everything on a single launch day.
Heritage Brands and Local Facilities Used IP to Meet New Customers
Shiose Souhonke x Sanrio — A 670-Year-Old Confectioner Makes Chocolate Yokan
On January 21, Shiose Souhonke, a historic Japanese confectionery house founded more than 670 years ago, released “Sanrio Characters Chocolate Yokan,” a collaboration featuring Cinnamoroll, Hello Kitty, and Kuromi. The characters are printed directly on the surface of the yokan (traditional sweet red bean jelly). Made with Erimoshozu adzuki beans grown in Otofuke, Hokkaido, and coarse crystal sugar (zarame), the confection blends rich chocolate right into the traditional bean paste. The chocolate is sourced through “Cacao-Trace,” a sustainable program that supports cacao farmers. At the Daimaru Tokyo department store, sales were announced as strictly limited to 15 boxes per day, while reservations were also accepted at locations including the Tsukiji main shop and Matsuya Ginza (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: Shiose Souhonke announced planned sales of 15 units per day at Daimaru Tokyo, while also accepting reservations at other stores. At The Oshi Lab, we interpret this local allocation as a way to combine exclusivity with access to the product.
My Hero Academia x Nagoya Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens — Turning Convenience Store Copiers into Merch Counters
On January 23, “PLUS ULTRA ANIMALS!”, the first-ever collaboration between the TV anime My Hero Academia and the Nagoya Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, kicked off. A lineup of eight character bromide photo prints was made available through multi-copy machines inside FamilyMart, Lawson, and Ministop convenience stores nationwide. Priced at 300 yen for L-size prints and 400 yen for 2L-size prints (tax included), sales were scheduled to run until 11:59 p.m. on February 23. The original manga series has surpassed 100 million copies in circulation worldwide, and the television anime has aired a total of 170 episodes across eight seasons (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: Selling zoo collaboration merchandise through convenience store copy machines requires zero inventory risk and zero dedicated retail floor space, while allowing fans anywhere in the country to buy a souvenir. The 300-yen price point hits a sweet spot for fans who cannot travel to Nagoya in person but still want a commemorative piece of the event. For public facilities where investing in large-scale merchandise infrastructure is difficult, turning existing nationwide retail infrastructure into a storefront is a highly practical option.
Detective Conan x Hobonichi Techo — Over 300 Original Manga Illustrations in a Single Planner
A collaboration between Detective Conan (also known as Case Closed) and the “Hobonichi Techo 2026 spring” planner series was announced for release at 11:00 a.m. on February 1. The weekly planner format (weeks) incorporates more than 300 illustrations from the original manga across every page, while its monthly calendar pages feature distinct comic panels selected from across 107 volumes of the manga for each month. The special-edition weeks planners were priced at 3,850 yen each, alongside planner covers priced at 7,700 yen for the A6 size and 8,800 yen for the A5 size (all tax included). First serialized in 1994, the original manga’s television anime adaptation has aired more than 1,100 episodes since debuting in 1996 (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: The painstaking editorial work of selecting different panels from across 107 manga volumes for every month is precisely what gives this product its value. For long-running serialized IPs, the sheer volume of accumulated archive material is a major strength in itself—and the key question is how thoughtfully that archive can be curated and presented. The more historical content a company has built up over the years, the more room it has to create fresh, compelling products through smart editorial curation.
Fan Passion Shaped Both Industry Recruitment and Hotel Stay Packages
Anime Industry Job Fair “WakuWork 2027” — A Record 45 Exhibiting Companies
“WakuWork 2027,” a joint job fair for the anime industry organized by WakuWork, was scheduled for March 3 and 4, 2026, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center Taito-kan. A record-high 45 companies signed on to exhibit—an increase of six companies over the previous year—marking the fair’s return to a two-day format for the first time in quite a while. Advance ticket reservations had already topped 600 at the time of the announcement, with cumulative attendance across the two days projected to exceed 1,000 visitors. Since its very first event, the fair has consistently championed the concept: “It’s okay even if you can’t draw!!!” Participating exhibitors included leading studios such as A-1 Pictures, TRIGGER, ufotable, Toei Animation, and Production I.G (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese), Cho! Animedia (in Japanese), Branc (in Japanese), PR TIMES (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: The guiding message that “it’s okay even if you can’t draw” has meaningfully broadened the pool of people aspiring to work in the anime industry. While career paths in anime have diversified across production management, producing, merchandise licensing, and media, awareness among job seekers still hasn’t fully caught up. If companies want to view passionate fans as potential recruits, they first need to start by clearly communicating that “there is a role here that you can do, too.”
Shinjuku Prince Hotel — An Exclusive One-Room-Per-Day “Oshikatsu Stay” Priced Just Under 40,000 Yen
Shinjuku Prince Hotel announced that sales for its special accommodation package, the “Heart-Fluttering Beauty Stay for the Day You Meet Your Oshi,” would begin on February 16 for stays running from April 1 through May 10. Priced from 39,250 yen per person (based on double occupancy) and limited to just one room per day, the package includes a Korean hair and makeup styling session at a popular salon in nearby Shin-Okubo, an “Immersive Room” equipped with a 75-inch large screen, Dolby Atmos audio, and video-synchronized lighting, penlights that glow in eight colors, a custom message displayed in the guest’s favorite character or idol color (oshi-iro) on the large digital signage at the hotel front desk, and a CICA skincare set from VT COSMETICS (PR TIMES (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: What is fresh about this package is how the hotel designs the entire day before and after a concert as a single seamless experience. Everything is lined up: pre-show hair and makeup styling in Shin-Okubo, a high-spec room for basking in the post-concert afterglow, and next-morning skincare recovery. That positions the hotel not merely as “a place to sleep,” but as an integral part of attending the live show (sansen). If a price point just under 40,000 yen per person proves viable, concert travel (ensei) demand represents a promising area where hospitality businesses can significantly raise average guest spend.
Games and Characters Converged by Bringing Physical Stores into the Mix
Monster Hunter Wilds x hololive 5th Generation, and Pokémon x Hatsune Miku
On January 30, Capcom launched its “hololive and Palico” (hololive to Otomo) campaign, a collaboration between Monster Hunter Wilds and the VTuber talents of hololive’s 5th Generation (Yukihana Lamy, Momosuzu Nene, Shishiro Botan, and Omaru Polka) featuring nine types of crane-game prize items. Capcom also announced a collaboration cafe running from February 20 through April 9 at the Capcom Cafe locations in Ikebukuro and Umeda (Inside (in Japanese)). Meanwhile, Pokémon announced “18 Harmony Stage,” a new stage of its collaboration project with virtual singer Hatsune Miku featuring newly illustrated artwork of Hatsune Miku dressed as 18 different Elemental-type Pokémon Trainers alongside her partner Pokémon. Structured across six themed stages depicting the units performing live, the project will roll out merchandise styled after real-world concert tour goods (Inside (in Japanese)).
Lab Note: Pokémon’s decision to frame the merchandise around a “concert tour goods” format is remarkably clever. With muffler towels, ticket holders, and can badge sets, the lineup adopts the exact look and feel of items fans buy at a live concert venue. Rather than placing these items on shelves as standard video game merchandise, the project presents them as concert-going gear. Aligning product formats with existing oshikatsu customs gives fans a much clearer, more intuitive reason to buy.
Going Where Huge Crowds Already Gather
- Bruno Mars x Roblox: Held inside STEAL A BRAINROT (54.4B cumulative visits), drawing 12.86M concurrent users
- Nagano Prefecture: Partnered with 21 distinct influencer groups, boosting SuuHaa brochure requests by 2.3x
- Ito En x WBC: Combined its ambassador partnership with Shohei Ohtani with WBC sponsorship and Oi Ocha's designation as the tournament's official green tea
Limiting Quantity to Protect Quality and Value
- Shiose Souhonke x Sanrio: Announced planned sales of 15 chocolate yokan units per day at Daimaru Tokyo, with reservations also accepted at other stores
- Shinjuku Prince Hotel: Limited its 39,250-yen-per-person Oshikatsu Beauty Stay to a single room per day
- Naturaglacé x Pokémon: Announced an 8-day Shibuya pop-up starting two weeks before nationwide launch for limited-quantity cosmetics
Source: The Oshi Lab’s summary of the article
Editorial Reflections on the Week
This was a week in which the sheer scale of the places where fans gather surpassed corporate expectations.
The figure of 12.86 million concurrent users on Roblox blows far past the assumptions that have previously framed discussions around virtual live concerts. What’s more, the venue wasn’t custom-built by the artist’s team from scratch—it was an existing game where a massive community was already spending time. Whether we look at Nagano Prefecture teaming up with 21 influencer groups to grow information requests 2.3-fold, or Ito En pursuing international expansion through its ambassador partnership with Shohei Ohtani and its WBC sponsorship, the underlying structure is identical: rather than trying to gather a crowd from scratch, it is much faster to go where people have already gathered.
At the same time, limited offerings also stood out this week. Shiose Souhonke announced planned sales of 15 units a day at Daimaru Tokyo, and Shinjuku Prince Hotel limited its concert stay package to a single room per night. At The Oshi Lab, we interpret these limits as exclusivity strategies. Seeing 12.86 million concurrent viewers and a local allocation of 15 units a day appear in the very same week speaks volumes about the remarkable breadth of the fan business market today.
Consider where your own brand’s fans already gather—and at what density. We encourage you to look back over this week’s developments alongside our foundational guides to Oshikatsu Marketing Design Principles and The Market Size of Oshikatsu.
Weekly Oshikatsu News brings you a curated digest of oshikatsu and fan business developments every week. You can browse past issues in our Oshikatsu x News category.
