Oshikatsu, referring to activities to support idols and characters, is no longer a fandom practice limited to young consumers.
Many people of older generations are energetically supporting their favorites, going to concerts and buying fan merchandise.
Experts say the activities are helping older people find purpose in life, adding that the popularity is likely to expand even more with the recent spread of livestreaming.
¡°Ryo-kun! Ryo-kun!¡±
On April 8, at an adult day care facility in Tokyo¡¯s Katsushika Ward, participants holding pom-poms and hand fans sent cheers to singer Ryo Nakada, 37, as they watched his livestreaming on television.
Nakada is dubbed the ¡±natsumero?(nostalgic melodies) prince¡± for his repertoire of 550 golden oldies of the Showa era (1926-1989). His livestreaming receives access from some 330 facilities for older people.
During the livestreaming, he sang popular Japanese classic songs including ¡°Aoi Sanmyaku¡± (Blue Mountain Range), and called out the name of the day care facility, which drove his fans at the facility crazy.
Kazuko Nakazawa, 86, who was at the facility holding Nakada¡¯s merchandise towel, said, ¡°I love his eyes. They show his kind character.¡±
Many older people in wheelchairs were at his concert held in Tokyo last year.
Nakada said his dream is to appear on ¡°Kohaku Uta Gassen,¡± public broadcaster NHK¡¯s annual music program broadcast on New Year¡¯s Eve, and sing on the stage showing his fans online.
Singer-songwriter Fumi Amamoto, 39, is popular among older people for her death-themed songs.
In late March, her fans gathered at a bar in Tokyo¡¯s Suginami Ward, listening to her sing to her guitar. ¡°I plan to cross sanzu no kawa (the river Styx) by swimming the backstroke,¡± she sang in Japanese.
A 67-year-old man, who has been going to Amamoto¡¯s live concerts for the past decade, said he gives her CDs to his acquaintances to promote her, adding that love underlies all her songs.
Amamoto said she creates songs thinking that all lives end, no matter how enjoyable they are.
While she does not target certain generations, she admitted that she gets better reactions from older people. Some fans who come to her concerts jokingly tell her, ¡°I¡¯m nearly at sanzu no kawa,¡± she said.
Namiko Kubo-Kawai, a professor at Aichi Shukutoku University well-versed in oshikatsu, said,? ?
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