Oshi kamidana – Literal altars you can build to enshrine your favorite anime character or idol


Design includes feature to hook up altars for members you’d wish would hook up as well.

It’s not at all unusual for hardcore anime or idol fans to have a corner of their room that they’ve set up as a “shrine” to their favorite character or performer. So why not make your shrine look like a shrine?

That’s the idea behind the Oshi wo Matsuru Kamidana (“Altar for Enshrining Oshi”) from Tokyo-based novelty good maker Dreams. Modeled after kamidana, altars said to contain the essence of Shinto deities at shrines and homes in Japan, each has a place of honor where you can enshrine an image of your oshi, as hyper-fans call their favorite in Japanese.

The space for the object representing the object of your admiration measures 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) tall by 7 wide, so customary oshi merch such as key chains, acrylic standees, polaroids, trading cards, and pins should fit with no problems.

▼ Dreams describes the altars as a place where you can “feel grateful to live in a world in which your oshi exists, and to hope for their health and prosperity.”

Since it’s become common practice for idol groups and harem/reverse-arem anime franchises to establish an image color for each member or character, the oshi altars are offered in eight different hues: red, blue, grern, yellow, pink, purple, orange, and white.

▼ Yeah, some of those are pretty bright shades, but odds are if you’re building an actual shrine to your oshi, their image color is already a prominent part of your interior design sense.

Of course, Dreams is aware that some fans, particularly those in the fujoshi community, don’t just have one oshi they love, but two, and that they’d like it if those oshi were to love each other as well. Because of that, the oshi altars can be physically linked at the base, as a symbol of your ardent wish for such a coupling to become canon.

▼ Maybe one day Yellow Guy and Blue Dude will realize they’d be perfect for each other.

The altars are made out of wood and come flat-packed, but popping the pieces out of their frame and fitting them together appears to be a tools-free task.

The altars are available for 1,650 yen (US$14.35) each directly from Dreams and through their Rakuten storefront (here and here). The generic oshi character standees seen in the promotional photos are not included, but any true fan should have no trouble supplying their own item to enshrine. Oh, and if you’re looking for a way to enshrine the spirit of an otaku themselves, this is the way to do that.

Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, Dreams
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