You Can No Longer Catch Pokemon At Hiroshima’s Memorial Or The Holocaust Museum

You Can No Longer Catch Pokemon At Hiroshima’s Memorial Or The Holocaust Museum

After requests from Hiroshima officials, Niantic removed Pokemon, PokeStops and Pokemon GO gyms from Hiroshima Memorial Park before last weekend’s annual ceremony marking the city’s World War II bombing, the AP reports.

Pokemon GO trailer

It is the 71st anniversary of the US attack on Hiroshima, in which 140,000 were killed.

Late July, in preparation for the city’s memorial event, Hiroshima officials asked Niantic to remove the park’s reported 30 PokeStops and three gyms. Since the game’s release, players have haunted the memorial searching for Pokemon, which officials found disruptive to the sombre atmosphere. Last year, the site attracted nearly 1.5 million visitors.

Niantic removed the PokeStops and gyms from the Hiroshima Memorial Park last Thursday, but Pokemon still wandered the grounds. The AP reports that, at 1:56AM, Niantic responded to Hiroshima officials’ requests to remove the virtual monsters. The ceremony transpired six hours later.

According to Japan Today, Niantic has also abided by Nagasaki officials’ requests to remove Pokemon GO-related content from the Nagasaki Peace Park, which commemorates the city’s August 1945 bombing. Late July, the Japanese government asked players to avoid catching Pokemon around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Pokemon GO-related breaches of decorum have plagued sensitive sites in America, too, though Niantic appears to be respecting the wishes of these sites’ curators. Recently, Pokemon were removed from the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, where, for some reason, players had to be told to stop chasing Pidgeys between the museum’s exhibits honouring those who died in concentration camps.


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