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Interest
Japanese Gamers Discover Joys, Quirks & Frustrations of Pokémon Go

posted on by Eric Stimson
Anime industry also plays the game

The smash hit smartphone game Pokémon Go debuted in Japan a week ago today, enabling Japanese gamers to discover what all the fuss is about. Like their counterparts overseas, they have enjoyed themselves while getting into bizarre, humorous or inappropriate situations with the game.


@0315_kc found an Exeggcute in an odd position. (Incidentally, the Japanese name for Exeggcute can mean "balls.")


How Magikarp ended up there, we'll never know. (@Tamaki_Shion)


@carnivoralist found a Pokémon. Or is it a Pidove?


One Krabby apparently decided to power up the old-fashioned way. (@AP0__)


@mosaiclive0512 walked in on a dire situation.


Even Japan's spotless bathrooms aren't safe from the occasional lurking Pokémon. (@tomozawa_mamoru)


@plmn_1226 pits a cockatiel against a Pidgey.


This looks like a normal commuter to @mm_tr_28.


@KSLA_0401 found another bad place to play Pokémon Go: the bullet train. The tutorial won't stop due to the speed of the train.


Hokkaido also seems to be a unpromising place to go searching for Pokémon. (@photograph0420)


Meanwhile, Yoshihide Suga, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, notes that Pokémon have even appeared in the prime ministers' residence's entrance and in the Diet (Japan's parliament). (@cranberry1110)


On the game's first day this foreigner challenged Japanese players at the Diet with a Dragonite that's way more than anyone could handle at the time. (hafu_KNG)


@sameanko points out that dogs love Pokémon Go most of all, since it means five walks a day!


@akimasaJAM compares the launch with the Battle City arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! "Pedestrians should get outta the way! This town's gonna become a battleground today!" Yu-Gi-Oh! creator Kazuki Takahashi also made this comparison.


@stk_ found an Eevee that's "not the Eevee I know."


Something drew a very large crowd to Tsuruma Park in Nagoya... although probably not a fake Mew.


Meanwhile, an entrepreneur in Setagaya Park is renting out smartphone batteries. 100 yen for 10 minutes.


These intelligent youths tried a new method of catching Pokémon. It doesn't work very well.

Several figures connected with the anime industry have also joined the fun.


Mai Aizawa (The Future Diary, Ange Vierge, Lucky Star) attempts to catch her cat in a Pokéball.


Suzuko Mimori (Love Live!, Digimon Adventure tri.) poses with an Eevee.


Pokémon Go character designer Yūsuke Kozaki finds a way to play at home.


Rica Matsumoto, the voice of Satoshi/Ash in the Pokémon anime, reports only finding dangerous Pokémon in her house.

Other members of the industry tweeting about Pokémon Go include:

Nakamura and Ogata reported having problems registering their own names.

[Via: Yaraon!, (link 2), Otakomu, (link 2), and Animate Times]

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