Don’t ever forget this. In Japan, people really, really like Pokémon. So today, when the newest Pokémon Center opened in Kyoto, there were massive lines to get into the store.
Yesterday, when I visited the shop to check out its limited goods, I kind of thought, hey, people will come tomorrow. Did they ever.
As pointed out on Hachima, here’s how much of the day has turned out so far.
平日の早朝5時前でこの始末なんだから、日が出て以降は世界中からポケモン好きの猛者が来るだろうな。
ちなみに午前8時から整理券を配るとのこと。
ポケモンセンターキョウトが出来たことは喜ばしいが、事故などは起こらないことを願う。 pic.twitter.com/KtdEr5uFMn— たけぽん (@revolvermario) March 15, 2016
People starting getting in line before 5am this morning.
ポケセン京都整理券待機
平日だぞ今日w pic.twitter.com/7EwZbmKoNO
— みー@かえで@チームブラジル (@tsuki_kae) March 15, 2016
This was taken at just before 7am.
ポケモンセンターキョウトに着きました。オープン2時間前なのに200人くらい並んでるんだけど…。 pic.twitter.com/jSc5rGYqOw
— タイーラ@ドドンドンドドン (@tieela_with_you) March 15, 2016
Two hours before the shop was to open at 10am, there were about 200 people in line.
ポケモンセンターキョウト開店初日。
USJのアトラクションくらいには並んでる。 pic.twitter.com/wAG4xaPtwk
— まりも@LV31船橋1市川 (@marimo6_5_3) March 16, 2016
A line was formed inside to get into the shop. This is before 10am, and the Twitter user compares the wait at Universal Studios Japan.
ホール埋まりました #ポケモンセンターキョウト pic.twitter.com/cdJXsdpJEm
— のーベん (@kazesayo) March 16, 2016
The sign says the wait is “zero minutes”. The staff hadn’t yet started tracking how long the wait was.
ポケセン入場制限ファー pic.twitter.com/QdJUdEIVqa
— 赤うーぴん (@stridermorn) March 16, 2016
Keep in mind, this is for a single shop opening, and this is a weekday.
ポケモンセンターキョウト入場待機待ち時間ワロタwww
自分はまだ七階だぞwww pic.twitter.com/s0VIBTR1aC— まりも@LV31船橋1市川 (@marimo6_5_3) March 16, 2016
At 10:15am, the wait was around 210 minutes or 3.5 hours.
ポケモンセンター京都 待ち時間やばす(; ̄ェ ̄) pic.twitter.com/Ea8n3qAtAU
— 天神 (@amagami_magnyan) March 16, 2016
This is at 10:20am. Two hundred and seventy minutes.
ここは5階のポケモンセンターキョウトへの入場待ちの7階待機列です pic.twitter.com/tHmKLmpVWU
— にげあし (@nigeasi) March 16, 2016
Geez.
ポケモンセンターキョウト
待ち時間360分待ち#ポケセン #ポケモンセンター pic.twitter.com/645Gtjtu2j— ギョギョの奇妙なち魚類 (@water010) March 16, 2016
ポケセン京都、人すごい pic.twitter.com/cCD13oQ4eu
— ひかる (@ghikarug) March 16, 2016
7階で物販購入して、5階のポケモンセンターに入店できました。ここから更に60分くらい並ぶらしいです。かえりたい…。 pic.twitter.com/5hGl19ym3N
— タイーラ@ドドンドンドドン (@tieela_with_you) March 16, 2016
ピカチュウ乱獲しすぎやろw#ポケモンセンターキョウト pic.twitter.com/0qMny7i1C1
— TOEFL ibt (@U_Y_0624) March 16, 2016
And it’s been so crowded that separate registers were set up outside of the Pokémon Center to process all the sales as quickly as possible.
【お知らせ】本日オープンの「ポケモンセンターキョウト」は、混雑のため、11時現在、入店まで6時間以上お待ちいただいております。状況によってはご入店いただけない場合がございます。本日の営業時間は20時までとなります。予めご了承いただけますようお願い申し上げます。 #ポケモンセンター
— ポケモン公式ツイッター (@Pokemon_cojp) March 16, 2016
At 11:44am, the official Pokémon Twitter account stated that the wait time was over six hours and added that the store would be open until 8pm. Meaning? Depending on how the line goes, some people who line up later in the day might not be able to get in to the shop.
【お知らせ】本日オープンの「ポケモンセンターキョウト」は混雑のため17時15分現在、入店まで15~30分程度お待ちいただいている状況です。本日の営業時間は、20時までとなります。予めご了承いただけますようお願い申し上げます。 #ポケモンセンター
— ポケモン公式ツイッター (@Pokemon_cojp) March 16, 2016
That was peak Pokémon Center Kyoto fever. By 5pm Japan time, the wait time had cooled off to between 15 to 30 minutes. Good to know and never forget how popular Pokémon is in Japan. Never.
後ろ姿もとっても可愛い!!!#ポケモンセンターキョウト #ポケモン #Pokemon pic.twitter.com/3yJmpGShtC
— ちゃぷ* (@chipchap9) March 16, 2016
Top image: gorou12 [marimo6_5_3 [tieela_with_you [water010 [U_Y_0624]
Comments
4 responses to “Reminder: Pokémon Is Incredibly Popular In Japan ”
I thought everybody was posting articles about how Pokemon died to a game about ghosts and watches.
Not the first game. The completely random Chance of catching yokai pissed me off. At least there is a proper way to catch Pokemon. Maybe the new version solved that problem but to me it’s a deal breaker for monster collector like me.
Youkai Watch is a much hotter property with elementary school kids the past couple of years (disclaimer: I teach at Japanese elementary schools). Pokemon has been a part of people’s lives for years now so a lot of its fans have grown up, so if you go to the Pokemon Center you’ll see gaggles of highschool girls looking at the toys, grown men (otaku) playing the 3DS game against teenagers etc. Whether Youkai Watch can have the shelf life of Pokemon is a wait and see game I guess.
I’d say it won’t. Pokemon has survived every other franchise trend that tried to kill it but eventually fails.
But your talking about Western trends, and your personal opinion.
Without any relevant data to back up anything as to how the brand is doing in the west (merch and game sale data) you cannot make a proper opinion. Also Nintendo don’t want yokai to take down pokemon, they just want it to co exist.
As far as in japan, mrwaffle is right as i have also noticed this in my last trip (this past to December/Jan) japan. The Yokai busters game was the only game being played by people i saw on 3DS.
The whole game being completely based off of Japanese legends (pokemon did this also with ho-oh and other pokemon) is what ties it japan more than the west, so of course they would be more into the game as they understand these characters more.