A Pokemon Center employee has reportedly passed away after being attacked by an assailant while they were on the job. The horrifying scene reportedly left customers at the Pokemon Center understandably terrified, with emergency services quickly being inundated with calls for help.
While violent crime is fairly uncommon in Japan, unfortunately, the game industry has been scathed by threats and actual violence in the past. For example, in 2024, Nintendo canceled an event following threats of violence against its staff and attendees, while individual developers have been verbally abused and received death threats in the past, to the point that developers have had to make official statements calling for an end to the harassment.
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Warning: Description of violent acts follow.
Pokemon Center Employee is Attacked and Killed On the Job
In Japan on March 26, at around 7 pm, calls started pouring in to 110 (the Japanese equivalent of the US’s 911) reporting a man with a knife rampaging in a shopping center in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, in Japan. While early reports made it sound like the attack spanned the entire shopping center, the crime didn’t actually break out outside of the Pokemon Center. Eyewitness accounts and surveillance footage indicate that a man who appeared to be in his 20s entered the Pokemon Center in the Sunshine City building while holding two knives. He apparently headed straight for the counter, where a female employee who was reportedly also in her 20s was standing while doing her job. After reaching her, he reportedly stabbed her in the neck with one of the knives. Following the attack on her, he turned one of the knives on himself. Both individuals were rushed to the hospital in critical condition, but neither survived the incident.
At the moment, it’s not clear what the motive was behind the attack, and the police haven’t released information on whether the two knew each other. At this time, the names or further information on who the individuals were have also not been shared. However, despite the general panic that the emergency calls indicated, the attacker reportedly didn’t make any moves on anyone else in the store or nearby it, so it seems as though this was an intentional, targeted attack. More information will presumably be released in the days to come. In the meantime, an official press release has been issued by the Ikebukuro Pokemon Center itself, noting that the store will be temporarily closed to not only facilitate the investigation underway, but to ensure the mental wellbeing of its employees. No date has been given for when the store will reopen, so fans are encouraged to stay tuned for further updates.
One can imagine that this must have been an extremely frightening experience for all involved. It’s currently spring break for most students in Japan, so there’s also a good chance that there were children at the store when the attack transpired. While the store will no doubt open as soon as it can, the impact of this experience may be lasting on those who were present at the time of the attack.
While it’s unlikely that the attack was triggered by anything to do with Pokemon itself, it’s unfortunately not the first time that violent crime has broken out surrounding the series. There have been multiple incidents of Pokemon GO players getting heated in Japan, leading to real-world assaults. Others have been threatened with violence during robberies of Pokemon cards, which are often targeted due to their potentially high value. The violence hasn’t been contained in Japan, either, as these types of incidents have been recorded in many countries. Thankfully, most of these incidents haven’t gone beyond the point of threats and minor injuries, but it’s still upsetting to see.
Source: NHK, Pokemon