Open a smartphone, pay a few hundred yen a month to the account of a particular individual creator, and photos and videos that pass through no commercial distribution arrive directly. A distribution form that is neither an AV production nor a sex-trade shop, in which individual and fan connect directly, acquired its own platform in 2020s Japan as well. myfans, as its representative domestic example, achieved rapid growth in the first half of the 2020s.

myfans (Japanese: まいふぁんず) is the name of a Japan-based fan-club-type content-sales platform operated by Tokuneko Inc. It provides a mechanism by which creators individually produce and sell photos and videos and run a monthly-membership fan club. Since its launch in 2021, it has acquired a representative share in the domestic adult-oriented creator-economy market and is positioned as one of the domestic platforms corresponding to the English-language OnlyFans. This article treats its operating structure, service overview, contrast with the English-language OnlyFans, and industry position.

Overview

The core functions of myfans are: the operation of an independent account by the creator (content seller); the viewing of posts by fans (subscribers) on a monthly-membership basis; the purchase of individual posts by single sale (pay-per-item); support by tipping; and mutual creator–fan interaction through DM and live-streaming functions.

The creator posts content such as photos, videos, and text to their own account, operating with a combination of “members-only posts” viewable only by monthly members, “single-sale posts” viewable only by purchase, and fully public “free posts.” The platform side provides the payment, distribution, and operational infrastructure, taking a business model that collects a fee on sales.

As a domestic platform that permits the handling of adult content, diverse use forms have developed in parallel: personal-brand operation by AV actresses and former AV actresses; personal-creator activity in the gravure and model line; content sales in the amateur and personal-filming line; and the related content development of cosplayers and streamers. It has established its market positioning as one of the fan-club-type platforms alongside domestic competitors such as CANDFANS and Fantia citation needed.

Operating structure and the course of the launch

The history of the operating company

myfans is a fan-club-type content-sales platform launched in 2021. It traces a course in which its trade name was changed to “myfans Inc.” in February 2022, it was absorbed and merged into Tokuneko LLC in December 2022, and it was reorganised into Tokuneko Inc. in April 2023. It is reported to have exceeded 100,000 users during 2023 citation needed.

Through the reorganisation of the operating company, the present structure has Tokuneko Inc. handling the business operation. Operation by a Japanese domestic corporation, Japanese-language support, and support for direct transfer to domestic bank accounts are emphasised as factors of differentiation from overseas platforms such as the English-language OnlyFans, lowering the operational barriers for domestic creators.

Service characteristics

The service characteristics of myfans are: support for domestic payment (in Japanese yen, with payment methods such as domestic credit cards and electronic money); direct transfer to domestic bank accounts; a Japanese-language interface and Japanese-language customer support; and a functional design conscious of Japanese creator culture (VTubers, cosplay, gravure, AV, and so on).

As for the handling of adult content, it is operated under the platform’s terms of use, age verification, and content standards. It takes a structure in which conformity to Japanese domestic law (the offence of distributing obscene pictures under Article 175 of the Penal Code, youth-protection ordinances, child-pornography law, and so on) is managed on the operation side.

Contrast with OnlyFans

Differences in service structure

myfans and OnlyFans have developed in parallel as creator-led content-sales platforms of the same kind, but several structural differences are recognised.

As to operating base and applicable law, myfans is operated by a Japanese domestic corporation, with business operation under Japanese domestic law; OnlyFans is operated by the UK’s Fenix International Ltd. and routes through UK law and international business operation. As to payment and currency, myfans supports yen-denominated, domestic payment methods, while OnlyFans is denominated in major international currencies such as USD and GBP and requires overseas payment and international remittance. As to language and support, myfans supports Japanese only, while OnlyFans has English as its central language and limited support for Japanese-language creators. As to content standards, both permit adult content, but each has its own individual operation in response to its terms of use, international credit-card-company standards, and the laws of each country.

Positioning for domestic creators

For domestic creators, myfans is positioned as a domestic platform with the advantages of direct domestic-bank transfer of yen-denominated sales, operation completed in Japanese only, operation conforming to Japanese domestic law, and affinity with the Japanese fan base and subculture.

On the other hand, OnlyFans has the advantages of access to an international fan base, presence in the English-language market, and a broader technical foundation and operational track record. Among Japanese creators, cases are also seen of operating myfans and OnlyFans in parallel, deploying to both a domestic and an international fan base citation needed.

Contrast with domestic competitor platforms

CANDFANS is one of the domestic fan-club-type platforms alongside myfans, in a competitive relationship with partially overlapping operating company, business model, and target audience. As selection criteria between the two platforms, the fee rate, functional differences (live streaming, DM, and so on), creator and fan bases, and the operation side’s response policy are compared.

Fantia is a fan-club-type platform of the Toranoana (a major doujin-distribution company) group, centred on a design for doujin creators. It handles adult content too, but takes a functional design that, compared with myfans and CANDFANS, places weight on the target audience of doujin illustrators, manga artists, and doujin-audio circles.

Pixiv FANBOX is a creator-support platform of the Pixiv group, linked to the fan base of Pixiv’s illustrators and manga artists. Its handling of adult works is limited, and it has a positioning different from myfans and CANDFANS. Ci-en is a creator-support platform of the DLsite group, with doujin-audio, doujin-game, and eroge producers as its main target; it is positioned as a complementary platform handling a different creator stratum from the photo and video content of myfans and CANDFANS.

Industry position and controversy

One wing of the personal creator economy

myfans is positioned as a platform bearing one wing of the development of the personal creator economy of the 2020s. It functions as a Japanese domestic version of international platforms such as Patreon and Subscribestar, providing individual creators with a channel to make a living through self-employment and direct sales.

Particularly in the adult context, against the background of changes in the industry environment such as structural change in the AV industry (the industry transformation since the AV Act, the tightening of contract procedures, and so on), changes in the regulatory environment of the sex industry, and the market contraction of the gravure and model industries, a shift to a direct-sales model by individual creators is in progress. Platforms such as myfans function as a principal receptacle for that shift citation needed.

Relation to the regulatory environment

Like adult-content platforms in general, myfans is operated under a compound regulatory environment of Japanese domestic laws (the offence of distributing obscene pictures under Article 175 of the Penal Code, child-pornography law, the youth-protection ordinances of each prefecture, and so on), the payment standards of international credit-card companies, and the handling standards of payment agents.

The relation to industry regulation since the AV Act (in force 2022) is also a subject of continuing debate among the operation side, the creator side, and other parties. Whether appearance and contractual relationships on the platform fall within the regulatory scope of the AV Act is a point of contention that varies according to the operation and interpretation of the current system citation needed.

Ethical controversy

Platforms for direct personal-creator sales, such as myfans, carry several ethical issues: the protection of self-determination over appearance, filming, and publication; the protection of the rights of the filmer and the model; the prevention of minors and exploitative situations; and the prevention of the illegal secondary spread of content. These are a group of subjects partly overlapping with the regulation of the commercial AV industry, and are an object of continuing debate among the industry, government, and civil society.

As a site, the policy is to take no clear position on any particular controversy and to remain at a neutral description of the present state.

Cultural references

myfans is positioned as one of the representative cases that implemented domestically a direct-creator-sales model passing through no commercial distribution (publishers, record companies, AV makers, productions, and so on). This model excludes the intermediaries of content distribution and makes the direct connection of creator and fan technically and operationally possible.

The platforms for direct creator sales that developed in parallel in each country and region (OnlyFans, Fansly, and JustForFans in the English-speaking world; similar platforms in Europe; paid-content functions of the Bilibili and Weibo lines in China) reflect a global structural change. myfans is positioned as the Japanese localised version of this global trend. The research fields of the creator economy, the intimacy economy, and platform capitalism treat platforms such as myfans as principal cases, and it is positioned as a subject for which future research accumulation is awaited at the crossing of content-industry theory, labour sociology, and gender studies.

See also

• OnlyFans
• Amateur
• Gonzo (hamedori)
• Doujin video
• Gravure
• AV Act