The archive · Consumer Apps · Product decision · 2025–2026
Ojipo bets raising an 'ojisan' by walking makes points apps stick; 3M downloads in a year
PoiPoi's parody points app grew a middle-aged character as users walked, went viral on X, and hit 3M downloads in its first year — without proven revenue.
Ojipo (おぢポ), PoiPoi Inc. (ポイポイ株式会社)
What the business is
Ojipo is a Japanese points-earning app (ポイ活) where daily steps and game content earn points, while a grumpy middle-aged 'ojisan' character evolves, celebrates events, and becomes the joke users share.
How it started
PoiPoi Inc., a Tokyo digital-marketing company run by co-CEOs Kazuki Fukuda and Sugiyama, launched Ojipo in 2025. Its stated logic: points apps are judged purely on efficiency and rebate rates, so users churn once a better rate appears. The team wanted an emotional reason to come back — 'お得' (the deal) and 'くだらなさ' (the silliness) living together in one app, embodied by a character called the ojisan.
What happened
The concept spread through SNS rather than campaigns: young women began posting walks under the #伊能忠敬界隈 meme, and event versions of the ojisan (such as a soccer version during World Cup Japan matches) generated further posts. The app adds friend mechanics — referral codes and the 'いばしょ' room where friends share and combine steps — plus game content that earns points while users play. In March 2026 Tokyo Tsushin Group partnered with PoiPoi to ship a sister app, おぢヘルプ, crediting Ojipo's '3M downloads in one year', strong user base, and SNS-marketing know-how. By May 2026 Ojipo sat in the top 3 of Japan's overall non-game download chart, while third-party estimates showed almost no in-app purchase revenue (The Paper, citing AppMagic).
How it ended up
Still live as of July 2026: downloads kept climbing through the year and X buzz continued, with a partner app launched — but the financial model remains unproven, as the category's users show up for free point-earning.
Background
Ojipo is a Japanese points-earning app whose hook is a parody middle-aged 'ojisan' that grows as the user walks. PoiPoi Inc. — a Tokyo digital-marketing company led by co-CEOs Kazuki Fukuda and Sugiyama — launched it in 2025 on the logic that points apps compete on efficiency and rebate rates alone, so users churn toward whichever app pays more next.
The team deliberately paired the practical (points exchangeable through daily steps and game tasks) with the absurd: a character whose evolution, event costumes, and moods give users a reason to open the app that no rebate table can. Growth came from SNS — young women began posting their walks under the #伊能忠敬界隈 meme, and event versions such as a soccer ojisan during World Cup Japan matches kept the joke spreading.
By March 2026, Tokyo Tsushin Group cited Ojipo's '3M downloads in a year' as the reason it partnered with PoiPoi on a sister app, おぢヘルプ. AppMagic data (via The Paper) put Ojipo in the top 3 of Japan's overall non-game download chart in May 2026 — while also estimating almost no in-app purchase revenue, a reminder that downloads and points-culture buzz had not yet translated into a proven business.
What has to be true
- Adding an emotional reason to return — the ojisan — attacked the churn problem that pure rebate competition could not solve.
- The design was inherently shareable: a grown-man character in an app is a running joke, so users recruited each other on X without paid acquisition.
- Friend mechanics (referral codes, the 'いばしょ' step room) turned solo point-earning into a social loop.
- An early corporate partnership (Tokyo Tsushin Group) externalized validation of the 3M-download claim and extended the brand to a second app.
What can be applied
In commodity utility markets, personality and shared absurdity can create retention that rebate tables cannot — but a product users adopt for the joke must still prove it can monetize the attention.
Aftermath
As of July 2026, Ojipo was still live and culturally sticky: Weekly Josei PRIME reported it kept surfacing on X with a young-female user base and an evolving character, and Tokyo Tsushin Group had shipped the sister app おぢヘルプ in March 2026. The unresolved question is money — AppMagic-based reporting in May 2026 put Ojipo's in-app revenue near zero, and the broader walking/points category was described as 'people use it, nobody pays'. Whether the emotional hook eventually converts into ads, offers, or commerce remains the open bet.
Sources
- 謎の〈おぢさんが育つ〉ポイ活アプリ『おぢポ』がSNSで大バズり…運営が明かすガチ勢以外もハマる訳
- 「おぢヘルプ」リリース！東京通信グループとポイポイが初のタッグ。300万DL「おぢポ」の実績を活かした新ポイ活アプリをリリース
- 不赚钱的散步，移到室内，月入500万
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