Diving Into the VTuber World: A New Nexus of Japanese Pop Culture

KizunaAI’s comeback concert in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Using the latest technology, her image appears as a lifelike, three-dimensional character onstage. (Courtesy KizunaAI/PR Times)

Growth of the VTuber Market in Japan

VTuber Mori Calliope performing live in California in February 2025. VTuber concerts are now held around the world. (© AFP/Jiji)

An advertisement for the popular VTuber Gawr Gura displayed at Shibuya Station in Tokyo, March 2023. (© Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/Sipa USA/Reuters)

The Nijisanji Festival 2022, a major event featuring corporate VTubers, was held in October 2022 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. (© Jiji)

Hololive plush toys displayed at the Tokyo Toy Show 2023, June 2023, in Tokyo. (© Jiji)

Hololive merch purchased at the Tokyo Station shop, including a plush toy and acrylic stand of the character Jūfūtei Raden. (© Okamoto Takeshi)

Suō Sango features in advertising at Ugata, the closest station to Shima Spain Village. (© Okamoto Takeshi)

Independent VTubers Peanut-kun (left) and Ponpoko in a collaboration with the bathhouse chain Gokurakuyu. (© Pokopea)

VTuber Zombie-sensei (bottom right) livestreaming a commentary on the game Urban Myth Dissolution Center. (Game © Hakababunko/Shūeisha Games; image courtesy Okamoto Takeshi)

VTuber Hoshimachi Suisei performs her SuperNova concert at Tokyo’s Nippon Budōkan on February 1, 2025. The solo show filled the venue. (© Cover Corp.)