On July 17, Okamoto Ken, a professor in the Faculty of Social Comprehensive Sciences at University Kindai, published a paper in the university’s repository that investigated the awareness and acceptance of VTubers. The title of the paper is ” How are VTubers Perceived and Accepted by People: Results of a Survey Targeting University Students Conducted in 2024″.
Okamoto holds a PhD in Studies Tourism and also works as a VTuber known as “Sensei Zombie.” His research topics include anime pilgrimage, zombies, and analog and digital games. He is the author of books such as “Studies Zombie at University” (Shinsho Fusosha) and “Business Pilgrimage” (KADOKAWA). In recent years, he has also focused on VTuber research and was involved in the Shoten Iwanami book “VTuber Studies.”
The paper was published on pages 59-68 of Volume 14, Number 2 of the Kinki University Faculty of Social Sciences journal, “Sosha-ru.” The publication date of the journal is March 31, 2026. The survey was conducted in 2024, targeting students of two large private universities in the Kansai region.
The survey results revealed a discrepancy between awareness and acceptance of VTubers. While over 70% of university students were specifically aware of VTubers, less than 30% actually watched their videos or streams. The paper also examines whether VTubers became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the paper identifies two types of awareness: “abstract awareness” and “concrete awareness,” and points out that acceptance can also be divided into two types: “normal acceptance” and “active acceptance.”
The paper is freely available online and can be downloaded by anyone.
A paper related to VTubers
is now available for free download
from the repository! ! !
《Contents》
🟣Did VTubers become known during the COVID-19 pandemic?
🟢More than 70% of university students know VTubers by name… pic.twitter.com/L0h7YWjjpP
— Okamoto Ken @ “VTuber Studies” (Shoten Iwanami) Vtuber “Zombie Sensei” (@animemitarou) July 22, 2026
This article is an English translation of an original Japanese article, translated by the Mogura VR editorial team.
