In Japan, policymakers and economists are paying close attention to the oshikatsu phenomenon as a growing driver of consumer spending — and 24-year-old Momoka Matsui is one of many doing her part to shore up the economy.
Matsui is part of an expanding demographic of mostly 20- and 30-somethings engaged in activities supporting their favourite celebrities, anime characters, cuddly mascots or any oshi — the Japanese term for an object of adulation.
"If my salary goes up, I'd like to go to concerts out of town, even overseas, more frequently," says Matsui as she, like many workers in Japan, waits eagerly for another year of wage hikes.
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