A Pokemon card game event planned at a controversial shrine to Japan’s war dead has been cancelled and the Pokemon Company apologised for posting an event notice on its website following a backlash from China, as tensions between the two sides escalated.
The Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo honours Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals.
Countries that were targets of Japanese aggression, especially China and the Koreas, see visits to the shrine as showing a lack of remorse about Japan’s wartime past.
The event, which was scheduled to be held yesterday, attracted a sharp response from Chinese state media, where editorials cited angry comments trending on social media.
“Brands that disregard history and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will ultimately be abandoned by the market,” said the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official mouthpiece, on its Weibo.
“The relevant enterprises must accordingly take social responsibility and not make light of the heavy weight of history in the name of entertainment.”
The Pokemon Company, an affiliate of Japanese game maker Nintendo, issued an apology in both Japanese and Chinese, saying the event had been privately planned by a certified Pokemon card player for children, but its information was shared on the company’s official website.
“It was an event that should not have been held to begin with,” the company said.
The company added that the notice was shared on its website “by mistake because of the lack of our understanding”.
The event has been cancelled and its information removed from the website, it said.
The company, citing its motto of “connecting the world with Pokemon”, pledged to be considerate to everyone. — AP
