The Lawson x hololive collaboration campaign kicked off on March 17, 2026 with six talents taking part: AZKi, Shirakami Fubuki, Ookami Mio, Tokoyami Towa, Fuwawa Abyssgard, and Mococo Abyssgard. In stores, Lawson sold original merch and bromides (photo prints) featuring brand-new illustrations created specifically for the campaign, while at the in-store multimedia kiosk Loppi, fans could also pre-order unique items such as a lunchbox-style case and a tumbler as part of a "Spring Fun Set" or badges with illustrations of talents dressed up as Lawson's original character Karaage-kun.

That is not all; Lawson was also a Platinum Sponsor of hololive 7th fes. Supported By LAWSON, held this March at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. To learn more about Lawson's efforts with hololive production, we spoke with Takehiro Baba (Lawson, Inc. Entertainment Company), who has been involved since the first Lawson and hololive collaborations.

“A New Kind of Potential Different From Anime:” How the Lawson x hololive Collaboration Began

—The Lawson x hololive Collaboration Campaign, which started on March 17, garnered a lot of attention, with very long lines seen at the decorated collaboration stores of Dougenzaka-Ue in Shibuya, Tokyo, and Minamihorie 1-Chome in Osaka.

We are very thankful for all of the support.

—I believe Lawson’s collaborations with hololive production began in January 2021, but how long have you been involved?

When we first collaborated with hololive in January 2021, we rolled out initiatives like original merch exclusive to @Loppi & HMV, a Twitter (currently X) campaign, and original announcements played at Lawson stores. I was then in charge of the Loppi side of things for the second collaboration campaign (available in Japanese only) held in December 2021. That was around the time when the COVID pandemic was settling down and VTubers were garnering more and more attention.

I actually wasn’t very familiar with VTubers or the industry until we worked on that campaign, but as I researched further, I learned more about the culture and concluded that it was a platform poised to grow even further as a new market. Lawson had done a lot of collaboration projects with anime IPs, but hololive production was a promising new venture for us in terms of providing a new genre to work with. I helped start the project, hoping that we could build new connections and grow together.

As we continued working on it, I personally became a big fan of everyone at hololive production. I was very enthusiastic about it, declared “I really want to do this!” internally, and made it a reality.

—So it seems like you became a fan yourself.

Definitely. A big part of it was that I felt hololive production truly had untapped potential.

Reaching a Wide Range of Generations, Including Younger Fans

—With the first collaboration being in January 2021, it has now been more than four years as of spring 2026. What changes have you seen regarding physical store collaborations?

Lawson has run collaboration campaigns with many different anime titles, but of course, simply plastering character images on snacks and juice boxes is bound to bore people eventually, so we have taken on various new challenges even for those campaigns.

With this eighth Lawson x hololive collaboration campaign, I feel that offering new kinds of experiences in a variety of new forms has earned us strong support from younger customers.

In particular, in-store entertainment raffles and snack collaborations give younger customers a reason to come into the store. Many people also share their excitement on X, posting about how much they’re enjoying the campaign. It really makes us feel like we’re reaching a much wider audience.

—So you measure impact through social media, is that right?

Yes. We check the number of likes on our posts, such as campaign teasers, and the number of daily reposts. Specifically for the latest hololive campaign, we identified which initiatives younger fans responded to most so we can use that insight when planning future collaborations.

—Lawson has stores across Japan. How does the reaction differ between big cities and regional areas?

If you think about a physical convenience store, cities obviously have a much higher volume of customers. However, VTuber fans are everywhere across Japan.
As we run the same campaign across roughly 14,000 Lawson stores nationwide, we sometimes see reactions from people who are happy that the campaign is “happening in [their] area too.” In that sense, I think there is value in providing real-world experiences like this, in addition to the talents’ virtual activities, because it is a point of contact that brings joy to many people.

The Concept  of “Beyond fes.” — The Craft Behind Original Merchandise That Surprises Fans

—What are some “must-haves” or areas you are especially particular about when collaborating with hololive production?

This year, we decided to become a platinum sponsor for hololive 7th fes. (hereinafter “fes.”), so we decided to plan the latest campaign with “fes.” as a key theme.

Rather than focusing on the fes. itself, we thought about what it might look like if the talents were enjoying their time off after fes. We also asked the talents what their future aspirations and dreams were, and refined the concept based on that. Then, under COVER’s supervision, we created brand-new original illustrations featuring three outfit themes: Going Out, Roomwear, and My Future. This was one of the big focal points for us this time.

To explain with an actual product as an example, we have a Spring Fun Set as part of our pre-order exclusives lineup. Since the campaign ran in spring, we wanted to create something fans could use to enjoy spring together with their favorite talents, so we came up with a set that includes a tote bag, a lunchbox-style case, a blanket, and a tumbler. These products were decorated with illustrations showing the talents enjoying their time off, as well as illustrations depicting what they wanted to do in the future.

By the way, I was surprised by how big these lunchbox-style cases were. I hope that people found that interesting too.

—When planning these items, do you exchange ideas directly with the talents?

Of course. We interviewed the talents to work out a concept, but we can’t just flat out ask them, “Tell us about your dreams,” out of nowhere.
We first held hours of discussions with COVER to build up the concept. As we continued these discussions, our understanding of the talents deepened, and were able to have opinions about how certain presentation could please fans and talents in certain ways.
We held interviews with the talents after we had come up with solid concepts and proposals, so that we could talk with the talents in more concrete terms.

For this campaign, for example, we asked AZKi about how she would like to be seen cooking omurice on the lunchbox-style case. We also asked Fuwawa Abyssgard and Mococo Abyssgard about their dream live show, for which they helped us refine the illustrations.

The Overwhelming Response to EXPO & fes. That Moved Lawson Employees

—Next, I’d like to ask about hololive 7th fes. as well. This was your first time participating as a Platinum Sponsor, but could you tell us how that came about?

Yes, this was Lawson’s first time participating as a Platinum Sponsor, but I personally have been attending hololive SUPER EXPO & fes. for quite a while now. I had seen the energy of the fans firsthand and also seen major companies like Bandai and Good Smile Company join as sponsors. One thing I kept thinking was that there were plenty of toy/figure manufacturers as sponsors, but no one from the convenience store industry.

参考：hololive SUPER EXPO 2026 ＆ hololive 7th fes.Ridin’ on Dreams Special Site

Our main business is convenience stores, but within the Lawson Group, we also have Lawson Entertainment, which handles Lawson Ticket, and HMV in the music industry. HMV already carries official hololive production merchandise, which is very popular with customers, so we thought that if the Lawson Group were to be a sponsor, it could open up more possibilities going forward.
While Lawson Group as a whole sponsored the event, we chose “Lawson” as the sponsor name for clarity and recognition.

—Was it a difficult undertaking within Lawson?

To be honest, when we had only just started the Lawson x hololive collaborations in 2021, we didn’t have a very strong understanding of VTubers and hololive production within Lawson, including myself. Most of us just assumed “they must be some sort of character IP.”

Through multiple collaborations over the years, we have recognized internally that customers respond extremely well to hololive production content. A very easy example is our entertainment raffle. Compared to other products, hololive production items are outstandingly popular. This is well-understood now, even at the store level, with staff proactively continuing to re-stock hololive production-related products.

Given this background and our track record together, we were able to gain internal support to make this sponsorship happen.

—Earlier, you mentioned that as part of the Lawson x hololive collaboration campaign, you designed the concept around what the talents would like to do after fes. and how they spend their time off. Did you have this concept in mind at the time of becoming a Platinum Sponsor?

We were yet to have a detailed plan, but once it was decided that we would become a sponsor, we had a general idea that it would tie in somehow.

We are also considering continuing our collaborations after this latest campaign. This one happened to be a spring-themed one, but now we are looking into how we can get fans to enjoy all four seasons together with hololive. Ideas like that and the fes. sponsorship became the two pillars of this latest Lawson x hololive collaboration campaign.

—Earlier, you said the sponsor was Lawson Group as a whole. Can you explain that framework?

Lawson Group as a whole includes entities such as Lawson Ticket, HMV, which sells related merchandise, and movie theaters like Lawson United Cinemas. As an entire enterprise, we can provide customers with many different kinds of experiences, so we wanted to establish a connection through this sponsorship.

—How did customers and fans react to the sponsorship?

With so many well-known manufacturers and companies involved, I think it was a big achievement to also have the “Lawson” name out there, as a convenience store. Even in the first announcement stream, when the name Lawson came up, there was a huge reaction in the comments.

On the day of the event, I personally went to both the fes. and EXPO venues. As I walked around, I kept overhearing people say things like “Oh, Lawson’s sponsoring?!” or “Lawson’s partnered with hololive production!” I think it left an impression on fans.

In that sense, I feel we got off to a good start as we continue to develop initiatives for both companies. because I want to deliver even better results going forward.

Also through this fes. sponsorship, we’ve found ourselves having more internal discussions about whether we can go beyond the usual convenience store framework and expand what we can do. Of course, there will be technical limitations or difficulties in what we can achieve. Still, we’re developing plans to explore whether we can do something even more interesting by combining hololive production, which connects the digital and the physical, with the strengths of our real-world stores.

Not Just a Character, But an Indispensable Partner: Lawson’s Commitment to Co-Creating With hololive

—Thank you for sharing so much about your work with hololive production. Lastly, please tell us what you would like to do with hololive production moving forward.

First of all, I am very grateful for all that we have done up to this point. We are still figuring things out in many ways, but hololive production and everyone at COVER have supported us greatly. I believe that being able to plan and execute projects together as one team has led to strong results.

As for what we hope for, first, we want to continue working together for the long term. Second, we want to take on new challenges, drawing upon the synergy between the Lawson platform, a convenience store chain with about 14,000 physical locations, and the digital world of VTubers.

We also have ideas that we want to make happen in the near future. Within the group, we have Lawson Travel, Lawson United Cinemas, and places like HMV where we can hold real-world events. By making full use of these resources in the experiences we provide, we can further close the distance between the talents in the digital world and the fans in the physical world. One big project that could make that possible is a rock-paper-scissors tournament, where fans can play one-on-one matches against hololive production talents. Imagine standing face-to-face with a life-size talent and saying, “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” together. One wins, one loses, and everyone has fun. This is a simple but quite rare way to bring fans and talents together in the same space and spend time together. Then, after one tournament in Tokyo, we could do one in Osaka right away: crossing great distances to have fans all over the country enjoy this special experience.
But…maybe I’m just speaking as a fan who would very much like to participate in something like this. (laughs)

I’d love to keep creating new experiences, connecting the digital and the physical with the great people at hololive production.

Reliving Live Show Emotions: An “Extra Performance” at HMV

—Finally, we hear that starting this May, there will be a pop-up shop at HMV&BOOKS SHIBUYA (available in Japanese only). What can we expect?

As we talked about earlier, the latest Lawson x hololive collaboration featured merchandise with brand-new illustrations depicting how the talents spend their time off after the fes. and their dreams for the future. In addition to items like those, we also want to provide experiences. Realistically, though, it is difficult to create experiences within all 14,000 Lawson convenience stores.

HMV, being a group subsidiary, was the perfect place to create the vibe of an “extra performance” in line with the world of hololive 7th fes. Whether it be someone who couldn’t make it to fes. in March, or others who just want to relive the feeling they had during the concerts, this will be a space for all fans to immerse, or re-immerse, in that atmosphere. Of course, there will be exclusive merch, with panel displays and a fan message board.

—Are you also personally in charge of planning that?

No. “G” from HMV is in charge of the pop-up store. They are as passionate about hololive production as I am, so readers should definitely look forward to it.
We are also preparing original merchandise based on the talents’ stage outfits from hololive 7th fes. The project lead says they are very proud of how it turned out. I’ve held the items myself, and they are incredibly well-made. We’re building the space to let people enjoy an in-person experience at a real venue while also offering something they can pick up, take home, and keep. I hope the readers take the time to pay us a little visit.

—Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us! We are excited to see what comes next.

[@Loppi・HMV Exclusive] HMV POPUP SHOP Open!

We are excited to announce the sale of [@Loppi/HMV Exclusive] original merchandise celebrating “hololive 7th fes. Ridin’ on Dreams,” which was held from Friday, March 6 to Sunday, March 8, 2026.
To commemorate the event, a POPUP SHOP will open at five select HMV locations (available in Japanese only)from Tuesday, May 12 to Sunday, May 24, 2026. Featuring exclusive designs, this special lineup of goods allows fans to relive the excitement of the “hololive 7th fes.” live stages.

Official Name:
hololive production HMV POPUP SHOP

Duration:
May 12 (Tue) – May 24 (Sun), 2026
^{Please note: Items are limited in quantity and will be available only while supplies last.}

Participating Locations (5 Stores):
HMV Sapporo Stellar Place / HMV Sendai E BeanS / HMV & BOOKS SHIBUYA / HMV & BOOKS NAMBA / HMV & BOOKS HAKATA

Special Displays at HMV & BOOKS SHIBUYA
The Shibuya location will feature exclusive exhibits, including:
* Screening of select footage from “hololive 7th fes.”
* Photo Spots
* Message Boards

*^{Merchandise is available exclusively at the five locations listed above.}
*^{The arrival time of products may vary by store.
*Release dates are subject to change due to inclement weather or unforeseen circumstances. We appreciate your understanding.
*Please refrain from contacting the participating stores directly regarding this promotion.}

© Lawson, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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