Shopping Guide
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade held each year in New York City, U.S. features a gigantic balloon of a popular video game character from a Japanese game! Do you know what character and what game it is from? It’s Pikachu from Pokémon, of course!
In 1996, Nintendo began selling the Game Boy games Pokémon Red 1 and Pokémon Green 1 in Japan. Now, 17 years later, the number of Pokémon fans throughout the world continues to grow. As of March 2013, the Pokémon game series has sold a collective total of over 245 million copies worldwide, and the Pokémon game, card game, and anime together have surpassed a cumulative total market scale of 4 trillion yen.
One reason for Pokémon’s popularity may be the 640 unique Pokémon that exist within the series to be caught 2. There are Pokémon that are extremely adorable, such as Pikachu and Eevee, as well as tough-looking Pokémon, such as Charizard and Machamp. This makes Pokémon fun not only for kids, but for everyone regardless of their age or gender.
In Japan, there are special shops full of Pokémon goods for fans to enjoy. These official Pokémon shops are called Pokémon Centers, and there are seven throughout Japan. Pokémon Center Tokyo is located in the heart of Tokyo and is easily accessible for tourists via a transportation service from Haneda and Narita airports. Therefore, it is a location that is visited by many fans, whether they live in Japan or abroad.
Pokémon Center Tokyo has about 2,500 goods, from Pokémon-themed plushies, souvenirs, and candy. A special feature of Pokémon Centers is that besides Pokémon toys you can find at toy shops there are also many original products that can only be found at Pokémon Centers. For example, one Pokémon Center exclusive product is the “Eevee Collection.” This popular collection consists of eight types of products including coasters, tumblers, and plushies themed after the cute Pokémon Eevee and its evolutions.
On weekends and holidays, many fans from Japan, holding their Nintendo 3DS, form a line waiting for Pokémon Center Tokyo to open. There are many Pokémon fans from abroad who visit the store during the week, too. Of those fans who visit from abroad, 60-70% are from the West (particularly North America), with the remainder being from Southeast Asia, China, and Korea. It is interesting to note that the average age of fans visiting the Pokémon Center spans from those in their late teens to 20s.
Usually, visitors from America, Europe, and Asia are seen with shopping bags full of Pokémon goods to bring home. Figures are quite popular. Other popular items are the Takara Tomy mini figure series “Monster Collection” and items featuring Pokémon from the Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, Gold, and Silver games such as Mewtwo, Charizard, and Suicune.
Furthermore, Pokémon Centers don’t just sell goods. Various limited time events are also held at the stores, such as card game tournaments and Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) classes. The Union Room is an event space found at the Pokémon Center where these Pokémon TCG tournaments are held and where fans are able to exchange Pokémon cards with each other.
In addition to this, Pokémon video games and handheld hardware are also available at Pokémon Centers. Pokémon fans can visit Pokémon Centers on their birthday, or seven days before or after their birthday, to obtain a special in-game present. Also, before a new Pokémon video game releases, fans can enjoy experiencing the games ahead of their release date via in-store demos.
Pokémon Centers give fans the opportunity to fully enjoy the world of Pokémon. Through The Pokémon Company’s 3 mission of “producing Pokémon,” they want Pokémon to fascinate fans even more.
According to Kaori Jinbo, the media planning department manager at The Pokémon Company, “Similar to the fantasy world that attracts many people to Disneyland, we would like Pokémon Centers to be a place where fans can enjoy the world of Pokémon.” Jinbo went on to explain,
> From the position of implementing product planning, we are thinking of projects to put the spotlight on not only popular Pokémon, but also those Pokémon that normally don’t get a lot of attention. For instance, we carried out a production plan for a stuffed plushie of Stunfisk 4. Compared to Pokémon like Pikachu, Stunfisk isn’t as well-known, but it still was a successful selling item at the Pokémon Centers.
Pokémon Centers in Pokémon games are places you visit to restore the health of Pokémon after they battle. So are the Pokémon Centers we’ve been discussing the real deal? If students are fatigued from too much schoolwork, or adults exhausted from work come to a Pokémon Center, can they be healed? Once the courage was built up and the question asked, Jinbo responded with a smile from ear to ear: “Of course! Your health gauge will be filled!”
Pokémon Official Site:
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/ (Japanese)
Pokémon Center News:
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/gp/pokecen/english/ (English)
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/gp/pokecen/chinese/ (Chinese)
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/gp/pokecen/korea/ (Korean)
Come and play at a Pokémon Center for your birthday!
Pokémon Center Birthday Perks Official Page:
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/gp/pokecen/birthday/ (Japanese)
© 2013 Pokémon.
© 1995-2013 Nintendo Co. Ltd. / Creatures Inc. / Game Freak Inc.
Pokémon is a registered trademark of Nintendo Co. Ltd., Creatures Inc, and Game Freak Inc.
^1^ Pokémon Red and Green were first released only in Japan. Shortly thereafter, Pokémon Red and Blue were released overseas.
^2^ If you include the many different forms of the Pokémon Deoxys, Burmy, and Unown from up to the Nintendo DS games Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, there are more than 670 Pokémon.
^3^ The company that manages the Pokémon brand. It is the successor of The Pokémon Center Company, which was established In April 1998. In 2000, the company changed its name to The Pokémon Company.
^4^ This Pokémon is from Pokémon Black and White and is number 618 in the national Pokémon encyclopedia. It is the first flat Pokémon and is a ground and electric type.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
