Japanese Fan Sites Compared: MyFans, Fantia, FANBOX, CandFans, FC2 and FANZA

Found a Japanese creator you love, then hit a site you’ve never heard of? You’re not alone. Japan has its own fan sites, and each one has different rules for fans abroad: different cards, different languages, and in one case, no access from outside Japan at all. Here’s the whole picture on one page, built only from what each platform’s own help pages say, so you can work out in a minute where you can actually join.

The short version

Start with the creator, not the platform. Most Japanese creators run their main page on one site, so the link on their X (Twitter) or Instagram profile tells you where to go. Then check two things before you sign up: does the site take your card, and can you use it from where you live? The table below answers both.

Card brand is often what decides it. A Visa or Mastercard holder can use MyFans, FANBOX or CandFans but not Fantia. An American Express holder can use Fantia or FANBOX. JCB works on MyFans, Fantia, FANBOX and CandFans.

MyFans: built around the creator’s own page

MyFans is where every creator on JapanCreatorFind posts. You join a creator’s monthly plan, and you can also buy single posts, send tips and buy content sold in messages. Prices are in yen and your card company converts them.

For fans abroad, the big plus is that MyFans says foreign users can register, and your own non-Japanese mobile number works for its phone check (only numbers starting with 050 are excluded). It lists Visa, Mastercard and JCB; its other options, BitCash and the Japanese pay-later services Paidy and atone, are mostly for fans in Japan. Plans renew on the same date you joined, and its rules require explicit areas to be mosaicked.

Next steps: using MyFans from abroad walks you through sign-up, and MyFans payment methods covers cards and BitCash.

Fantia: great creators, strict card rules

Fantia (ファンティア) is a fan-club platform run by Toranoana Inc. You can switch the display to English, but read its terms first: the current version says people who have difficulty communicating in Japanese can’t register. Fantia doesn’t explain how it applies that clause.

Paying is the other hurdle. Fantia’s card payments accept only JCB and American Express set up for 3-D Secure; Visa and Mastercard have been suspended since 21 May 2024. The alternative is Tora Coin, its prepaid balance at ¥1 per coin. Fantia adds an 8% service fee on plans and charges continuing plans on the 1st of each month. There’s no app; you use it in a browser.

Everything else, including free tickets, is in our Fantia outside Japan guide.

pixivFANBOX: easiest if you already use pixiv

FANBOX runs on your pixiv account, and its creators include illustrators, manga artists, VTubers, cosplayers and novelists. It accepts Visa, Mastercard, JCB and American Express cards and PayPal, with no FANBOX handling fee. One catch: PayPal can’t be used to support creators who post R-18 content unless you’d already used PayPal on FANBOX before 21 March 2024, 6 pm Japan time.

Set English in your pixiv display language. R-18 posts appear only once you’ve set your date of birth and switched them on, and FANBOX’s tag search shows only all-ages creators, so you may need a creator’s direct link. Billing follows the calendar month, with automatic payments between the 1st and 5th. See pixiv FANBOX outside Japan.

CandFans: multilingual from the start

CandFans supports seven languages, English included, and accepts Visa, JCB and Mastercard, though it warns some cards can fail depending on usage or region. It adds an 18% platform fee at checkout, and in 2023 it moved to settling payments in US dollars to make paying easier for overseas users.

Monthly plans renew on the same date each month, Japan time, and there’s no app; CandFans suggests adding candfans.jp to your home screen. Details are in CandFans outside Japan.

FC2 Content Market and FANZA: a different kind of site

FC2 Content Market isn’t a subscription site. It’s a marketplace where you buy text, video, image and download items one at a time, or a 30-day unlimited pack from a seller who offers one. You need a free FC2ID and must be 18 or over. You pay with FC2 points (1 point = ¥1) or a card, and FC2 says card payments are billed in US dollars because FC2, Inc. is a US company. Read FC2 Content Market in English.

FANZA is the one to cross off your list if you live abroad. Its help centre says, in Japanese and English, that FANZA is a site for Japan and can’t be used from outside Japan. We don’t suggest trying to get round that. FANZA and DMM outside Japan explains what DMM does offer abroad.

So which one should you use?

This is our take, not platform policy: go where your creator posts. If they’re on more than one site, compare the plan contents and prices on each, because they’re set separately, and pick the one that takes your card.

If you’d rather start with creators than platforms, everyone we list is on MyFans. Browse creators, try a list such as Japanese amateur creators, or read MyFans vs Fantia vs Fanbox for billing and cancelling side by side. Paying with a Japanese prepaid code? Our BitCash guide covers where it works.

Creators with a free plan

Each has a ¥0 plan on MyFans, so you can follow before paying. Never ordered by commission. Profiles checked 8 October 2026 to 11 October 2026.

AIRIBlonde gyaru who shows her face and posts several times a week.Free plan (¥0)from ¥500/moNonoThe serious wife next door — who secretly loves being watched.Free plan (¥0)from ¥300/moMajikoUp to 25 videos a month — this feed never sleeps.Free plan (¥0)from ¥990/mo

All creators with a free plan

Quick answers