The Pokémon Company

Company History


Originally named "The Pokémon Center Company" and founded in 1998, The Pokémon Company was established through joint investment by the three businesses holding the copyright on Pokémon: Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK inc. The company name was changed to its present iteration in October 2000. Since that time, our business activities have grown and diversified into several distinct areas, maintaining a focus on our license management business.1998

Apr:

The Pokémon Center Company is established in Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. (Capital: 60 million yen)

Apr:

The Pokémon Center Tokyo is establisheDec:

The Pokémon Center Tohoku is established in Sendai, Miyagid in Nihonbashi, Tokyo.

Nov:

The Pokémon Center Osaka is established in Umeda, Osaka.

1999

Sep:

Capital is increased to ¥240 million.

2000

Oct:

Company name changes to The Pokémon Company. Game-related business begins.

Dec:

License-related business begins.

2001

Feb:

Overseas affiliate Pokémon USA, Inc. (now The Pokémon Company International) is established in Delaware, U.S.A.

Feb:

Capital is increased to ¥360 million.

May:

Capital is increased to ¥361.8 million.

Jun:

Capital is increased to ¥365.4 million.

2002

Jul:

Mobile phone website Pokémon Hiroba is launched.

Oct:

The Pokémon Center Nagoya is established in Sakae, Nagoya.

Nov:

The Official Pokémon website is launched.

2003

Mar:

Representative office is established in London, England.

Nov:

The Pokémon Center Fukuoka is established in Hakata, Fukuoka.

2004

Jan:

The Pokémon Daisuki Club is launched.

2005

Mar:

The Pokémon Center Yokohama is established in Minato Mirai, Yokohama.

2006

Aug:

Overseas affiliate Pokémon Korea, Inc., is established in Seoul, Korea.

2007

Jul:

The Pokémon Center Tokyo is remodeled and reopened.

2009

Mar:

The Pokémon Center Sapporo is established in Sapporo, Hokkaido.

2010

Apr:

The Pokémon Communications Company, an affiliate, is established.

Nov:

The Pokémon Center Osaka is remodeled and reopened in Umeda, Osaka.

2011

Mar:

The Pokémon Center Fukuoka is remodeled and reopened in Hakata-eki, Fukuoka.

What Does The Pokémon Company Do?
President and Representative Director Ishihara has been involved in the planning, production, and sale of Pokémon games, goods, and animations since The Pokémon Company's creation. What are his thoughts on producing Pokémon so far? And what are his dreams for the future of Pokémon?

Here, Ishihara explains what it means to be a Pokémon producer and shares some of his experiences over the years.

What Is The Pokémon Company?
I think our name, The Pokémon Company, expresses what we do more clearly than the names of most companies. Nobody hearing our name is going to think we handle the Doraemon business, right? As our name implies, The Pokémon Company manages all business related to Pokémon. In fact, we handle nothing but Pokémon-related business. I gave the company a name that boldly states our product without revealing the other important details of our business.

In interviews, I am often asked what areas of business The Pokémon Company is involved in. When I answer that we "produce" Pokémon, the interviewers typically look puzzled, as if they don't understand.

When this happens, I say, "Imagine a talent agency that decides what types of jobs to assign to its talent, how to nurture them, and which of their skills to cultivate. That's what talent agencies do, right? The same applies to The Pokémon Company. We decide what types of media our talents, like Pikachu and Snivy, should appear in, how to nurture them, and what types of products to use them in. This is what we call "producing Pokémon."

At this point in the interview, the interviewers start understanding what we do. However, such explanations only clarify a small part of our production work. We actually do much more.

A more accurate description of what it means to produce Pokémon is that we play a leading role in making Pokémon products as appealing as possible and that we make every effort to achieve the best possible business results when those products come out.

So, what makes a product appealing? This question is hard to answer because people have different tastes. Some people prefer products that maintain their interest for lengthy periods of time. Others favor products that are compelling right from the start, and still others find inexpensive, convenient products most appealing. As for myself, I think the most appealing products are those that compel shoppers to pick them up, purchase them, and then recommend those products to the shopper's friends.

Making appealing products is the first step toward business success. When a company's products are appealing, the company receives widespread support that raises its business to a higher level. Involvement in everything from manufacturing to publicity and promotion in order to make appealing products and maximize the business is what I call "producing." I don't think it is an overstatement to say this kind of work demands all of our capabilities as human beings.

As a result of our efforts, the Pokémon brand is highly acclaimed and receives support from millions of people. "Producing" contributes to Pokémon brand management and is the full responsibility of The Pokémon Company.

My Experience in Tracing the Origins of Video Games Greatly influenced My Thinking.
My involvement with video games goes back over 25 years. After leaving graduate school, I entered Japan's first computer game company. This was when video games were still in their infancy. I was a big video game fan and was fanatically interested in learning as much as possible about them. How many video games were there in the world? Who was making them? The deeper I looked, the more interested I became. The company finally decided to publish a reference guide for video games called Video Games: Denshi Yugi Taizen. The project took me three years to complete and went way over budget. My poor company!

I started the project by creating a map of video games around the world. I looked into the structures of video games (such as tennis games#, studied their stories #such as in The Lord of the Rings#, researched how computers #including large-scale computers) were used to realize them, and observed how video games evolved. Major games like Mario Bros. and Dragon Quest appeared later in the evolutionary process, but I focused on earlier games that formed the foundation for what became today's video games.

The experience of making the reference guide and gaining a bird's-eye view of the video game industry made me who I am today. Since the video game industry was just beginning, it was still possible to trace its origins. I had the honor of contacting people, teams, and creators who were critical to the history of video games and who could verify who created what games.

Even now, when creating a video game, I always keep its origins, genealogy, and positioning in mind. I want my games to stand out and be different rather than mimic other games. Many years ago, when I read the first project proposal for Pokémon, I could see its huge business potential. There was no doubt in my mind that it was worth developing to the fullest extent.

Reaching Beyond the Boundaries of Distance and Culture
The first time I played Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version, a human character in the game requested a Pokémon trade and I received a Pokémon character named Farfetch'd. This event still stands out clearly in my memory. Since players trade Pokémon with other players and human game characters in the same way, and fill the same role as human game characters, players enjoy an interesting sense of interaction between the game world and real world.

Eventually, Wi-Fi communications enabled players all over the world to exchange their Pokémon with other players. Pokémon then became a connective medium that generated interactions and reaches beyond space, political boundaries, and nationalities. In Japan, Pokémon fans also gather at six Pokémon Centers (official stores for Pokémon goods), looking for merchandise, data downloads, battles, and like-minded friends.

The Pokémon world is where reality elegantly merges with the game world. Personally, I want to keep expanding its base for years to come.

Tsunekazu Ishihara    Tsunekazu Ishihara was born in Toba City, Mie Prefecture, in 1957 and graduated from the University of Tsukuba Graduate School of Art and Design in 1983. As a producer, he was involved in the development of various video games before founding Creatures Inc. in 1995. A year later, in 1996, he produced Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version. These games became the basis for the development of all subsequent Pokémon animated series and products. Thereafter, Ishihara was the producer for all Pokémon video games and also created Japan's first trading card game, the Pokémon Trading Card Game. In 1998, he founded Pokémon Center Inc. (now The Pokémon Company) and became its president. As president of The Pokémon Company, he handles brand management for all Pokémon products, including video games, card games, TV shows, and movies.