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Paper short abstract

This ethnographic paper introduces a case study of Ikebukuro and Otome Road as an urban space re-imagined and co-produced by Japanese female fans, examined through the lens of the recent oshi-katsu phenomenon and its effects on lived, embodied and material fan practices.

Paper long abstract

Although previous scholarship on Japanese fan geographies often centres on Akihabara as the representative urban neighbourhood and commercial epicentre of the otaku culture, its male-oriented consumption practices are often implicitly stated and rarely analysed, while urban spaces significant to female fandoms remain understudied. This paper will introduce a case study of Ikebukuro, Tokyo, as an urban space re-imagined and co-produced by Japanese female fans as a ‘sacred site’ (seichi) relevant to multiple Japanese popular culture-related female fandoms. Widely regarded as a major commercial space for the BL (Boys’ Love) manga and anime and fan derivative dōjinshi cultures (Sugiura 2006, Steinberg and Alban 2018), Ikebukuro recently underwent a major redevelopment project as part of the district’s ‘International Art and Culture City’ initiative, which included reopening of the flagship Animate shop and building the Hareza complex. The transformation affected the spatial dynamics of the area by not only revitalising the consumption practices centred around the iconic Otome Road but also extending beyond it, diversifying and expanding into whole new generations of female fans participating across seemingly unrelated genres.

Informed by participant observation and ethnographic research conducted in the area between September 2024 and November 2025, this paper examines the spatial politics behind the redevelopment of the Ikebukuro neighbourhood. By contextualising the rapid shifts in gendered expressions of fandoms through the lens of the recent proliferation of the oshi-katsu phenomenon, or the broad range of the often consumption-based fan practices aiming to support one’s ‘oshi’ (a favoured artist, fictional character or object), I argue that the redeveloped Ikebukuro space functions as the urban seichi for female fans and their embodied experiences of routinised fan consumption practices centred around second-hand retail shops and themed cafés. Demonstrating that urban fan spaces remain central to the female fans’ consumption practices despite ongoing market shifts and increasing digitalisation of fan experiences, this paper contributes to the broader discussions of the spatial aspects of fan cultures, affective economies and politics of belonging in contemporary Japanese popular culture.