General News

PokéPark KANTO Special / Experiencing the real thing with 5 senses

Yamaguchi, left, and Ishihara pose with Charizard.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

5:00 JST, November 12, 2025

PokéPark KANTO, the first permanent outdoor facility for Pokémon, will open at the Yomiuriland amusement park on Feb. 5, 2026. This feature story introduces the appeal of the unprecedented facility that offers visitors the experience of real encounters with Pokémon living in a forest and a town.

The final work of preparing PokéPark KANTO for its opening is continuing. The Pokémon Company Representative Director and CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara and The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings President Toshikazu Yamaguchi visited the site at the end of October and discussed the facility’s appeal.

Toshikazu Yamaguchi: PokéPark KANTO will finally open in February next year.

Tsunekazu Ishihara: The origins of Pokémon trace back to the 1996 games “Pokémon Red Version” and “Pokémon Green Version,” which were launched in Japan. In those games, a facility called Pokémon Center appears, where a player rests the Pokémon they captured. It all started with an idea of bringing that center into the real world. We wanted people to enjoy the experience of traveling between the game and the real world.

While Pokémon Centers are now established in various parts of the world, PokéPark KANTO evolved from the thought of expanding it further — what if we created a town and a forest? For me, it is the culmination of a plan I have nurtured for about 30 years. I am thrilled it is finally becoming a reality.

Yamaguchi: Why did you choose this location?

Ishihara: Pokémon’s creator, Satoshi Tajiri, is from Machida City, Tokyo. His childhood experiences of catching insects and fishing contribute to the Pokémon series. The setting for “Pokémon Red Version” and “Pokémon Green Version” is the KANTO region. Inagi City, Tokyo, where Yomiuriland is located, is close to Machida and an ideal place for us to call it the KANTO region.

Yamaguchi: There are so many Pokémon in the facility, and I was impressed by the sculpting skill and expressiveness. Each one has a different expression and gestures, sparking all sorts of imaginings.

Ishihara: Every Pokémon has individual differences, just like real-world animals. While there is a large Pikachu, there are also small ones. I wanted to emphasize that each exists as a distinct creature.

Ishihara, right, and Yamaguchi look at a Pokémon device.

I call the Pokémon here “Pokémon Live Models.” Capturing a Pokémon’s momentary movement makes it easy to imagine what the Pokémon is about to do. One can imagine these Pokémon are playfully wrestling while that Pokémon wants to fight with another Pokémon and is about to make a slightly threatening move.

Yamaguchi: That is truly lifelike. Each Pokémon has its own relationship with others; it’s not just that there are many of them. Lately, I feel the value of experiencing these real things is rising once again. What this facility offers is an experience that can only be savored at this time and in this place, I suppose.

Ishihara: While the value of experiencing things in the real world using one’s five senses is becoming increasingly rare, I believe it is, in a sense, becoming more important than ever. I feel that foreign travelers visiting Japan are seeking precisely that kind of experience. I would be happy if it became a place where, while strolling through the forest and the town, people could truly feel that what they encounter right here, right now, holds the greatest value.