Pokémon Go AR photo courtesy of Aaron Olivera
A top media sensation during Summer 2016 has been the game Pokémon Go, a new app developed by Niantic Labs for personal handheld devices. The game allows players to merge the real world with the virtual world of Pokémon (short for “pocket monsters”) in an augmented reality (AR) on device screens. While the obsession with Pokémon Go is recent, the game’s imaginary Pokémon have been roaming the world for over two decades. Released in 1996, the game’s best known character, Pikachu, is now recognized as an iconic symbol of Japan’s global “soft power.” Featuring select materials from the Libraries’ collections, the “Pokémon Universe” display highlights the history and globalization of the popular Pokémon franchise, and explores the many worlds that Pokémon has inhabited since its inception in the mid-1990s.
Curated by Ann Marie L. Davis, Assistant Professor and Japanese Studies Librarian, and Amy Hwang, Program Assistant in East Asian Studies, this display is part of the Area Studies Department exhibit program focused on global engagement. It is located in Thompson Library on the 3rd floor at reading area Rm 341. Stop by to see the case, and capture a few Pokémon on the way at one of the two Pokéstops in the Thompson Library.
Links to books in the display case:
- Japanese Popular Culture and Globalization by William M. Tsutsui (Association for Asian Studies, 2010)
- The Official Pokémon Handbook by Maria S. Barbo (Scholastic, 1999)
- Millennial monsters : Japanese toys and the global imagination by Anne Allison (University of California Press, 2006)
- Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon by Joseph Tobin (Duke University Press, 2004)
- Yokai attack! : the Japanese monster survival guide by Hiroko Yoda (Kodansha International, 2008)
- Pokémon gotta catch ’em all! : deluxe essential handbook (Scholastic, 2015)
- Traditional monster imagery in manga, anime and Japanese cinema by Zilia Papp (Global Oriental, 2010)
- ポケモンプラチナ4コマまんが全集 : オールカラー版 by Santa Harukaze (Shōgakukan, 2009)
- ポケモンスとーリー by Kenji Hatakeyama and Masaichi Kubo (Nikkei BP, 2000)
- 図說妖画の系譜 by Hyōgo Kenritsu Rekishi Hakubutsukan and Kyōto Kokusai Manga Myūjiamu (Kawade Shobō Shinsha, 2009)
To learn more about Pokémon and its global effect , visit the links below from the OSUL catalog:
- Pokémon adventures (Viz Comics, 1999-)
- Comic about the adventures of Pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum
- Pokémon : 10th anniversary Pokédex by Eric Mylonas (Prima Games, 2006)
- Detail description of characters in the game Pokédex
- The ultimate history of video games : from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world by Steven L. Kent (Three Rivers Press, 2001)
- ポケモンの秘密 by Pokemon bijinesu kenkyūkai (Shōgakukan, 1998)
- 杉森建の仕事 : 「クインティ」から「ジェリーボーイ」「ポケットモンスター」25年間の作品集 by Ken Sugimori (Anbitto, 2014)
- Includes an interview with Ken Sugimori, the character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise
