[Feature: The Future of the Entertainment Business] Tami Yanagisawa: Fandom Culture, the Religion of Consumer Society

2024/04/05

"Oshi culture," which is now seen daily in Japanese media, is referred to as fandom culture in the English-speaking world. From idols, athletes, and anime characters to YouTubers and underground idols who are almost indistinguishable from amateurs, people "push" (oshi) various things and speak of them as if they were their own identity. The maniacal consumption activities that were ridiculed as otaku culture in the late 20th century became "oshi culture" practiced by everyone in the 21st century. Similarly, in the West, nerd culture gained mainstream acceptance as fandom culture and continues to this day. It was in 2016 that Barack Obama, then President of the United States, called himself a nerd and people accepted it as cool.

"Oshikatsu" (activities supporting one's oshi) by fandoms is also driving the economy. Economic activities related to oshikatsu are extremely vigorous, such as checking an oshi's activities on SNS, buying oshi merchandise, visiting collaborations between an oshi and other companies, and applying for multiple tickets to an oshi's performances. As symbolized by the concept of the fandom economy, marketing has come to aim for the formation of consumer groups called fans. Whether it is an artist or a brand, the key has become how to enclose fans, attract their attention, and make them consume more. The fandom-based economy led by K-pop has amplified in all genres along with the expansion of social media, and the fan services transmitted in large quantities daily, such as Instagram Live and TikTok, now seem to be reaching a state of saturation.

In my view, oshikatsu is a kind of religion in consumer society. However, this view itself is not original to the author at all. In the first place, people who engage in oshikatsu explicitly state that their activities are pseudo-religious, calling their oshi "God," calling conflicts between fans "religious wars," and calling shelves lined with oshi merchandise "altars." Furthermore, many people must know from experience that when looking at enthusiastic fans objectively, they appear like a kind of cult religion.

There are many pseudo-religions in consumer society besides oshikatsu/fandom. These include "spiritual" (formerly "spiritual world") and self-improvement, which look very religious, various conspiracy theories that expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, and nostalgia for the past. This is because nostalgia is not a longing for a real past, but a belief in a "past" idealized from the current perspective—a fiction, so to speak. In Japan, before "oshikatsu" became a boom, there was a trend of "Showa nostalgia" and "Showa retro," represented by the movie "Always: Sunset on Third Street" (2005). All of these religions in the broad sense of consumer society are set against the backdrop of the decline of traditional religions and the deadlock of the myth of the progressive view of history that supported the modern era. These new religions are thought to supply people with the meaning and value of living in a form that replaces former traditional religions and myths *1. In that sense, "oshikatsu" can be blind and harmful just like so-called religion, but at the same time, it is deeply involved with the urgent issues of human life—namely, the meaning and value of living—and therefore cannot be ignored.

Fans often appear cult-like because they spend costs that seem insane to support their "oshi." Whether it is time or money, they are so devoted that they are worthy of being called believers, trying to dedicate as much as possible to their "oshi." However, the mindset that supports such "oshikatsu" is by no means abnormal for a human being.

People can become very devoted to objects they regard as sacred. The "sacredness" mentioned here is not necessarily an extraordinary sensation. For example, while you might have no resistance to reselling a high-end fountain pen you received as a prize, wouldn't you feel a pang of guilt reselling a ballpoint pen a close friend gave you for your birthday? Also, don't you feel a sense of disgust toward calculating romance or resistance to the buying and selling of organs or babies? Psychologists like Philip Tetlock and anthropologists like Scott Atran explained that such emotions are based on "sacred values." While there are various values such as "good/bad," "right/wrong," and "pleasant/unpleasant," they argue that "pure (sacred)/impure" is also important in human value judgments. According to Atran and others, humans regard specific things as sacred, feel that those sacred things should never be traded economically, and feel that reducing them to money is a desecration of that sacredness.

People may regard something as sacred personally, as in the ballpoint pen example mentioned earlier, or they may share "sacred values" as a group. Regarding a country as sacred forms nationalism, and if a religion regards a specific place as sacred, it becomes a holy site (consider Israel, which continues its irrational attacks on Palestine). "Love" and "life" are examples of common "sacred values" that the majority of humanity regards as sacred. Rational modern states might seem unrelated to such irrational psychology, but France, which held up "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" at a memorial service for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting, seems to regard its founding principles as sacred, and about half of the citizens of the United States, who even refuse gun control, can also be said to regard "liberty" as sacred.

People do not want to let go of their "sacred values" no matter how much money is piled up, and they feel that the person who proposed such a negotiation is a filthy violator of a taboo, causing a violent emotional backlash. The fact that fans pour money and time into oshikatsu beyond their limits, such as often going into debt for skyrocketing performance tickets, is expected to be due to the psychology that sacred things should not be economically traded off. One must not have the idea of saving money for something that cannot be reduced to money. According to my survey based on "Moral Foundations Theory *2," Japanese people have a generally high sensitivity to sanctity, regardless of whether they are politically liberal or conservative. I speculate that this is not unrelated to the current situation in Japan, where few people belong to specific institutional religions, but spiritualism, oshikatsu, and nostalgia booms are prevalent across generations.

Since oshikatsu based on "sacred values" is likely filled with a sense of fulfillment subjectively, the claim that it leads to well-being is not incomprehensible *3. However, just like religion, oshikatsu can also be harmful to individuals and society. In fact, for any religion, there is evidence that religious believers are generally healthier and happier than non-believers, but just as that doesn't mean all religions, including cults, should be recommended, the same applies here.

Oshikatsu, where a lot of time and money are spent, includes more active behaviors besides passive consumption. In addition to so-called derivative works, there is "nuikatsu" (plushie activities), where people make plushies of their oshi's alter ego, take photos of them, and travel with them; making altars to display acrylic stands of their oshi; and making a cake on their oshi's birthday and feeling as if they ate it together. In short, grown adults do things like children's playing house or make-believe, but why on earth is this?

Anthropologist Luhrmann interprets Evangelical Christians who pretend to drink coffee with God, as if "pushing" God, based on developmental psychologist Donald W. Winnicott. Winnicott stated that play occurs in an intermediate area between the mind and the world, and he thought this intermediate area exists between an external reality that does not change even if one wishes it to, and an emotional reality such as a child's internal hopes and fears. Humans experience "God" in this intermediate area. This is because "God" is basically nothing other than an emotional commitment that "the world is good," and believing that the world is good even though such goodness does not actually exist. Winnicott thought that an adult's ability to believe in a good world is similar to an infant's ability to believe that a mother who has gone away will return. He argues that the concept of God for adults serves almost the same function as a teddy bear or a blanket for children, and both are similarly experienced as "emotionally real."

Could it be said that "oshikatsu" is also a grand game of make-believe seeking "emotional reality"? Luhrmann points out that this tendency to seek reality in emotions, especially positive emotions, increased in the United States after the 1960s, citing charismatic Evangelical Christianity combined with the New Age movement that spread rapidly during this period, and a counseling culture aimed at manipulating individual emotions. This American ideology, which idealizes having positive emotions for the individual, seems to be shared in present-day Japan, where the psychological concept of "self-esteem" (jikokouteikan) has become an everyday word (though the exact process is unknown). The reason why oshikatsu pursuing "emotional reality" can be harmful is, first, because it relies on the unstable thing called emotion and thus becomes limitless, and second, because it may lead to indifference toward objective reality. The cause of the addictiveness of "oshikatsu" also lies in their view of reality, which focuses on subjective emotions.

Furthermore, "oshikatsu"/fandom, like religion, is not harmless to society. Just as different religions, or people with different positions within the same religion, often clash violently, there are many conflicts within groups of fans. This strong attachment and self-identification with an "oshi" that generates such emotional conflict can be explained by "sacred values," but it can also be explained from the perspective of social relationships.

People can form social human relationships with invisible beings, even if they are fictional characters. As television became established in many homes in the 1960s, a phenomenon arose where viewers built intimate relationships with characters appearing on TV. Sociologist Donald Horton and others called this relationship "parasocial." "Parasocial" literally means a "pseudo-social relationship," but it refers to feeling a sense of intimacy toward someone you have never actually met, as if you were actually closely involved with them. People "push" not only real people such as idols and celebrities but also non-existent 2D characters from manga, anime, and games. Fans form parasocial relationships by frequently interacting with their "oshi" through consumption activities. According to the aforementioned Luhrmann, this parasocial relationship acts powerfully on that person.

If we understand that people have not only beliefs but also relationships, we can understand that intensity even more. After all, beliefs seem to be things that can be picked up or let go like a one-cent coin. You can change your mind about what you believe. (...) However, relationships change who you are *4.

Donald Trump's supporters (Trumpians) are a perfect example for understanding the parasocial relationship these fans form with their "oshi." Trump, who is currently challenging the presidential election again, failed in COVID-19 measures in 2020, leading many Americans to their deaths, was involved in the United States Capitol attack in 2021, and is currently being sued on multiple charges including involvement in the attack and fraud. Yet, as of April 2024, he is leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The impression that lawsuits and criticism are counterproductive and are instead spreading support to prevent him from returning to the presidency is likely because his supporters are none other than fans who have formed a parasocial relationship with him. Just the other day, a television broadcast showed an illegal immigrant joyfully calling out "Trump!" to Trump as he inspected the border between Mexico and the United States. Trump himself smiled wryly, saying, "They seem to like Trump. Unbelievable." This event can be seen as evidence that parasocial intimacy with Trump prevails over the recognition that he is a politician advocating policies disadvantageous to oneself. Trump, who appeared on reality shows, formed parasocial relationships with many American citizens, and after becoming president, expanded his fandom worldwide via social media. When the "oshi" with whom a fan has a relationship falls into adversity, the fan tries to support the "oshi" even more devotedly. The era in which those who have built a larger fandom control society has already arrived.

As discussed above, fandom culture is a culture based on the fundamental human thirst for the value of living, positive emotions, and social relationships, and it has become a pseudo-religion of secular consumer society. Even if it appears at first glance to be nothing more than purchasing goods or indulging in a hobby, people are building an emotion-filled relationship with their "oshi" and their own reality through "oshikatsu," and the reality created there is often so solid that it can no longer be shared with others. Now that fandom culture has become mainstream and individuals are striving in "oshikatsu" devoted to completely different "oshi," the possibility is increasing that we are living in completely different realities while being in the same society. Just as American liberals cannot understand Trumpians at all, someone next to you may be living a reality that you cannot understand at all.

In the American media, there has always been a certain amount of criticism of fandom culture, such as calling excessive fans "stans" [a portmanteau of fan and stalker]. In contrast, in Japan, the tone is overwhelmingly positive regarding fans and "oshikatsu," as if anything is good as long as there is an economic effect and the realization of well-being. This year, novels like Natsuki Murakumo's "Collector's High" have appeared, and criticism of fans being economically exploited in the name of love has finally begun to be seen here and there. I want industries that conduct economic activities on a fan base to be aware that uncritically enclosing people into "oshikatsu" can have serious impacts not only on economic activities but also on the way people perceive and recognize reality, and by extension, on our society as a whole. As fandoms proliferate and interest in objective reality further wanes, "living in the same reality" will become the greatest challenge for society in the future.

*1 Clay Routledge, Nostalgia: a psychological resource, Routledge, 2015.

*3 "Why Preventive Medicine Researchers Say 'Oshi is Important' for Happiness," Toyo Keizai Online Why Preventive Medicine Researchers Say 'Oshi is Important' for Happiness: The existence of someone you can care about more than yourself is becoming important | Health | Toyo Keizai Online (Accessed March 6, 2024).

*4 Tanya Luhrmann, How God Becomes Real, Princeton University Press, 2020. (Japanese translation "Real Making (provisional title)" translated by Tami Yanagisawa, Keio University Press, forthcoming)