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1st Pokémon Center in Quake-Hit Tohoku Region Planned

The official Japanese Pokémon website announced on Saturday that a new Pokémon Center shop will open in Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture this winter. This will be the first Pokémon Center built in the Tohoku region, the northeastern part of Japan's main island that was devastated by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake (Higashi Nihon Daishinsai) disaster of March 11. The store will be built inside Sendai's Aer skyscraper, the tallest building in the Tohoku region. With other sites already open in Nagoya, Fukuoka, Yokohama, Sapporo, Tokyo, and Osaka, this will be Japan's seventh Pokémon Center.

One of the stated goals of the new store is to support and bring children together in the area of Japan hardest hit by the disaster. The establishment of the store is part of the "POKEMON with YOU" disaster support initiative. The campaign's activities include organizing children's events, handing out Pokémon merchandise, and raising funds for children coping with the March 11 tragedy. According to the creators, the concept of the Tohoku Pokémon Center is to create a place for all children in the region to come together and smile.

Pokémon Centers throughout Japan sell a variety of Pokémon goods including games and toys as well as various Pokémon-themed products such as clothes, bedding, and dishes. The newest and largest Japanese Pokémon Center opened in Osaka on November 26 of last year.

Source: Famitsu