Marui’s Business is All About Cheering On Your Passions, From Anime to Subculture
Within Marui Co., Ltd., there’s a department literally called the “Passion Support Event Business Headquarters.”
This department, leveraging spaces like the nearly 500-tsubo (approx. 16,500 sq ft) dedicated event area on the 8th floor of Yurakuchou Marui, hosts a variety of large and small “Passion Support Events” at Marui locations and related facilities nationwide.
They don’t just provide the venue. They offer comprehensive support—from planning events that match each IP’s character, to setup including equipment and fixture rentals, to operation by experienced retail staff, all the way through to teardown. Their unique events have earned them passionate support from fans.
We interviewed Tsuda Junko-san, Director of Marui Co., Ltd. and Manager of Yurakuchou Marui, and Hirotsu Anna-san from the company’s Passion Support Event Business Headquarters and Passion Support Unit Promotion Office Event Development Section. They shared insights into Marui Group’s “Passion Support Business,” with a focus on their event operations.
Marui Has Always Supported the “Passions” of the Era
――Could you tell us about the Marui Group and its “Passion Support” business?
Tsuda: The Marui Group is approaching its 100th anniversary. Our management philosophy is to continue evolving to be useful to our customers. Even now, with our credit card business at the core, our mission is to “create a society where everyone can feel happiness.” To achieve that, we are working on our “Passion Support” business.
Fundamentally, Marui has always supported the “passions” desired by customers of the era. In the past, we supported the “passions” young people craved back then—furniture, musical instruments, DC brands. As more people began enjoying “oshi” activities, we evolved to support “passions” like anime and characters as we do now… We’ve changed gradually while staying attuned to our customers’ feelings.
Hirotsu: This business started in 2016. We issued collaboration design credit cards tied to popular anime/manga works and held events mainly at Marui stores. In recent years, perhaps influenced by digitalization, the things our customers love have become incredibly diverse. We wanted to launch an event business that widely supports not just anime and manga, but games, characters, artists—so-called IPs—as well as “things without a specific rights holder but with many fans,” like “saunas,” “plushies,” and “sweets.” That’s how the current “Passion Support Event Business Headquarters” was established. We want to support not just highly popular, well-known content, but anything our customers are passionate about!
Tsuda: Thankfully, we’re recently seeing a broadening of our customer base itself—we’re able to welcome people we hadn’t met at Marui before, which is very gratifying and makes us happy. For example, Yurakuchou Marui is close to Tokyo Station, so we have customers who come pulling suitcases saying, “I just got off the shinkansen,” and we feel the area we serve is expanding geographically too.
From Small Pop-ups to Large Exhibitions, Marui Supports Everything From Planning to Teardown
――We hear the “Passion Support” event business allows you to hold events of all sizes at Marui stores nationwide.
Tsuda: They really are all sizes. One event at MaruiCity Yokohama, in about a 400-tsubo (approx. 13,200 sq ft) space, welcomed over 30,000 visitors in total. This “30,000” is an estimate from merchandise sales; the actual number was probably even higher. On the other hand, at Yurakuchou Marui, we have event spaces as small as 20 tsubo (approx. 660 sq ft), and we can combine adjacent spaces, so we can be quite flexible.
――And you don’t just rent out the space; you support events in various ways.
Hirotsu: Yes. We support everything from planning, setup, operation, to teardown. Of course, we prepare the necessary equipment and fixtures, but beyond that environmental support, we think together with clients from the planning stage, considering various factors like the content’s characteristics, seasonality, what fans want, and venue specifications! Then, operation—like admission reception and shop sales—is handled by Marui staff, who are hospitality pros. We can also promote on digital signage and vision displays at each Marui store, placing ads where customers will see them, which rights holders are very pleased about!
In the planning part I handle, we start thinking together from situations like, “I want to do something like this, but how?”—from “how can we realize the event we want?” So, even rights holders or artists unfamiliar with real-world event operations seem to feel at ease. Some rights holders and artists have even told us, “Thanks to Marui, we were able to hold this event.”
――Indeed, we sometimes hear stories like, “I couldn’t fully enjoy the event because the operation was inexperienced,” so it’s reassuring to hear Marui’s pros are supporting it.
Tsuda: Within the company, many members raise their hands wanting to be involved in “Passion Support” work, but even besides that, there’s a retail DNA, you could say—everyone likes being useful to customers. Of course, rights holders and artists also appreciate that we can handle everything seamlessly, leveraging the Marui Group’s strengths.
Hirotsu: Also, because we’re involved from the planning stage and provide support, we can create flexible and innovative events. For a fun example, we once held a fan meeting where customers faced a VTuber projected on a monitor in the venue. We’ve also brought equipment into an event space to do a live radio recording on the spot. In an age where even product sales can happen online, creating a place for customers to come to and hold an event has meaning, and we find that rewarding.
Running Crowdfunding Based on Rights Holders’ Requests: Events Where a “Let’s Liven Up This Event!” Atmosphere Naturally Arises Among Customers
――So you’re thinking beyond just comfortable shopping or enjoying exhibits, to creating unique “places for experiences.”
Hirotsu: That’s right. I always think it would be great if we could create a place where visiting the venue becomes an unforgettable memory or where customers can connect with each other. At one event, we planned a message board where customers could participate by sticking notes. It gathered so many comments like, “Thank you for holding this event!”, “I was really going through a tough time, but thanks to my oshi, I can keep going. Thank you always!”, “I went to all of them (the touring events) from Hokkaido to Okinawa!”—so many that the board overflowed multiple times. The rights holder and I once got teary-eyed together…! In this way, by providing a place to convey customers’ feelings to the creators, their thoughts reach the rights holders and us, which I think is really wonderful. Witnessing such feelings firsthand made me recognize again that this is who we work hard for every day.
Tsuda: There’s another example. A company employee who loves a certain indie game was planning an event with the rights holder, but the budget for exhibit production was limited, so we did a crowdfunding campaign. Fans contributed over ten times the initial goal, allowing us to realize an exhibit of amazing quality. The names of those who participated in the crowdfunding were lined up on the venue wall, and everyone was taking photos looking deeply moved… The high energy of the customers left a strong impression.
Hirotsu: Because they have the tangible feeling of “we participated too” through crowdfunding, they visit the venue many times, and a natural atmosphere of “Let’s liven up this event!” arises among customers. We’re thinking of doing more and more of these customer-participatory events in the future.
We Want to Help, and Enjoy Together With, People Who Find Joy, Pride, and Fun in Their Passions
――Speaking of unique Marui experiences, there’s also the “EpOS Service Counter” where you can choose from a huge lineup of collaboration cards to apply.
Tsuda: With general credit cards as convenient tools, people don’t usually feel much attachment to the card itself. But the EpOS card has over 100 collaboration designs. We think of it as that one favorite card you put in your wallet and keep forever. We have cards for anime/games, artists, and more, with membership benefits related to the collaboration. So, it’s actually possible for someone who came to Marui for an event to then get a collaboration card for their oshi in one seamless flow.
Hirotsu: There are also other types, like collaboration cards with museums that let you donate a portion of your points to museums or art galleries with each purchase. These seem to let people enjoy shopping with the feeling that “I can support my oshi.” We also have the “EpOS Pet Card,” where you can use a favorite photo of your pet as the card design to cherish. We truly have ways for people to support or enjoy all sorts of “passions” with the EpOS card.
――As a reliable ally supporting our “passions,” do you have a final message for us?
Tsuda: In a society where you can’t always expect continuous growth, and where you might feel a sense of stagnation… Within that, I think customers who have something they are “passionate” about find joy, pride, and fun in that passion and move forward positively. It would be a true honor if we could assist with that, and we want to continue creating together with rights holders and artists, and enjoying it together with our customers.
Hirotsu: People talk about subculture becoming mainstream culture, but I think there are still many cultures not yet in the spotlight. If it’s a “passion” our customers seek, we think there’s meaning in trying to give it form and, as a company, helping make that happen. As a party supporting Japan, which can produce so many wonderful pieces of content, we want to keep tackling new things and continue doing what brings joy to our customers.
Interviewee Profiles
Tsuda Junko-san
Director, Marui Co., Ltd. / Manager, Yurakuchou Marui
Hirotsu Anna-san
Marui Co., Ltd., Passion Support Event Business Headquarters / Passion Support Unit Promotion Office, Event Development Section
By Maruta Kayoko
_
