New VTuber Bar Opens First Location in Tokyo

Would you go out to drink with your favorite VTuber (virtual YouTuber)? We paid a visit to a new bar in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro.

By Jay Allen

Japan is home to many interesting in-person experiences for geeks of all varieties. Now, a new bar aims to blend the real with the virtual by putting up-and-coming VTubers (virtual YouTubers) behind a bar counter. How well does the gimmick work? And what does this bode for the future? I checked it out for myself — and asked someone deeply familiar with Japanese nightlife what she thinks.

VTuber bar in Osaka brings virtual experience to real life

For those who aren’t up on the latest trends, VTubers are YouTubers who star in videos as a fictional animated model. The phenomenon is inspired by creations such as Hatsune Miku and other virtual idols.

Kizuna Ai, regarded by many as the original VTuber, launched in 2016. Since then, YouTube has seen an explosion — both in Japan and abroad — of people trying their hand at VTubing, with more 2D and 3D modeling software emerging to support their creative efforts.

The company Peindre Games, a VTuber management firm, is now taking these virtual idols into the real world. It opened its first VLiver Lab in Osaka just this year in…