The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン, ''

Kabushiki gaisha A or ''kabushiki kaisha'', commonly abbreviated K.K. or KK, is a type of defined under the Companies Act of Japan. The term is often translated as "stock company", " joint-stock company" or "stock corporation". The term ''kabushiki gaisha'' i ...

Pokemon'') is a Japanese company responsible for

brand management In marketing, brand management begins with an analysis on how a brand is currently perceived in the market, proceeds to planning how the brand should be perceived if it is to achieve its objectives and continues with ensuring that the brand is pe ...

, production,

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

, and

licensing A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

of the ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

, which consists of

video game software Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback ...

, a

trading card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

, anime television series,

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

, home entertainment products, merchandise, and other ventures. It was established through a joint investment by the three companies holding the copyright of ''Pokémon'':

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

Game Freak is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer of the mainline ''Pokémon'' series of role-playing video games published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. History Predating the video game company, ''Game Freak'' ...

, and Creatures. It began operating in 1998 and adopted the moniker Pokémon Ltd. in October 2000. The company is headquartered in the

Roppongi Hills is a List of development projects in Tokyo, development project in Tokyo and one of Japan's largest Real estate development, integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo. Constructed by building tycoon Mi ...

Mori Tower in

Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...

Minato, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Minato ward exhibits th ...

. The company has separate subsidiaries that handle operations in different parts of the world, with the Pokémon Company International supporting the territories outside

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and being responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the ''Pokémon'' Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official ''Pokémon'' website on the territories outside Asia. The Pokémon Company also handles

of all ''Pokémon'' video games since 2001 alongside Nintendo. The Pokémon Company is mostly responsible for marketing and funding, while Nintendo handles distribution of the titles in Japan and outside it. Both companies work together in localization, production, QA, and other aspects. The company is solely responsible for publishing and licensing mobile ''Pokémon'' titles, unlike console titles where it has help from Nintendo.

History

In 1998, Nintendo, Creatures, and Game Freak established in order to effectively manage the Pokémon Center stores in Japan. After the popularity of ''Pokémon Gold'' and ''Silver'', they received many merchandising proposals from around the world. Companies were interested in working with the Pokémon brand. At that time,

Tsunekazu Ishihara (born 27 November 1957) is a Japanese video game designer, director, producer and businessman who is the president of The Pokémon Company. Prior to working with the Pokémon series, Ishihara was part of Ape Inc. and worked on titles such as '' ...

of Creatures was the person in charge of approving licensed products. Because of the sheer volume of products, Ishihara thought it was too much work for one person to handle. At the same time, in order for the franchise to continue, Ishihara wished to further expand the franchise with long-term goals, such as continuing the anime series, and releasing a movie every year. It was then decided that a new organization was needed in order to gather together all the strands of brand management. This led the three companies to turn The Pokémon Center Company into The Pokémon Company in order to further expand its scope, responsibilities, and areas of business. According to

Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth President (corporate title), president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contr ...

, establishing The Pokémon Company was one of his first projects at Nintendo. Managing the Pokémon Center stores is still a pillar for the company. In total, there are stores in 11 locations:

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

, Tohoku (

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Skytree Town (Oshiage), Tokyo-Bay (

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

and

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

branch (Pokémon USA, Inc.) opened in 2001 to handle licensing overseas in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Nintendo Australia is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...

is responsible for some licensing and marketing of ''Pokémon'' products in Australia and New Zealand because The Pokémon Company does not have an Australian branch. Since 2001, nearly all ''Pokémon'' products are represented as "©Pokémon" in the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

acknowledgments with the usual three of "©Nintendo", "© GAME FREAK inc." and "©

Creatures Inc. is a Japanese video game company affiliated with Game Freak, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, and one of the owners of the Pokémon franchise. It was founded by Tsunekazu Ishihara in November 1995, with the assistance of then-president of HAL ...

" The three companies also have ownership of all of the ''Pokémon''-related trademarks in Japan while Nintendo is the sole owner of ''Pokémon''-related trademarks in other countries. Licensed toys are made by third- and second-party companies such as

Tomy is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Tak ...

and Jazwares. In October 2001, 4Kids Entertainment acquired a 3% stake in The Pokémon Company for an undisclosed sum. They liquidated this stake 4 years later for US$960,000. In 2006, Pokémon Korea, Inc. was founded to manage the company's operations in South Korea. Its headquarters is located in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. In 2009, Pokémon USA and Pokémon UK merged to become The Pokémon Company International, which handles American and European Pokémon operations under the administration of Kenji Okubo. The company's office in the United States is located in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...

and its office in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

is located in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Some Australian operations are controlled by

. Pokémon Center Co., Ltd. was established in August 2011 to manage the Pokémon Center brand and stores in Japan. Its operations include operating the Pokémon Store and Pokémon Center stores, maintaining the Pokémon Stand vending machines and operating the Pokémon Center Online, as well as overseeing the design and manufacture of Japanese Pokémon Center brand merchandise. Yomiomi Uego is currently the president and CEO. In April 2022, The Pokémon Company International announced the acquisition of Millennium Print Group for an undisclosed sum. The printing company has already been producing and packing cards for the Pokémon Trading Card Game since 2015 after partnering up with The Pokémon Company. The move will not have a major effect on Millennium's day-to-day productions, with the company still operating as a separate entity; The Pokémon Company will instead be providing "investment and industry expertise" while assisting Millennium in expanding its capabilities and infrastructure. On June 1, 2022, it was announced that Pokémon creator and

founder

Junichi Masuda is a Japanese video game composer, director, designer, producer, singer, programmer and trombonist, best known for his work in the '' Pokémon'' franchise. He was a member of Game Freak where he was an employee and executive at the company si ...

left the company and would be part of The Pokémon Company at a position called ''Chief Creative Fellow'', being more involved with the franchise as a whole instead of just the video games.

List of works

Games

* ''Pokémon'' video game series ** List of ''Pokémon'' video games * ''

Pokémon Trading Card Game The , abbreviated as ''PTCG'' or ''Pokémon TCG'', is a collectible card game developed by Creatures Inc. based on the ''Pokémon'' franchise. It was first published in October 1996 by Media Factory in Japan. In the US, it was first published ...

'' * '' Pokémon Trading Figure Game''

Anime

* ''Pokémon'' anime television series * ''Pokémon'' anime film series

Books

* ''Pokémon'' manga * ''Pokémon Junior'' book series

Live-action film

* ''

Pokémon Detective Pikachu ''Detective Pikachu'' (also known as ''Pokémon: Detective Pikachu'' and released as in Japan after the original game) is a 2019 comedy film directed by Rob Letterman. Based on the ''Pokémon'' franchise, the film is a loose adaptation of the ...

References

External links

*
English website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokemon Company Pokémon Anime companies Anime industry Companies based in Tokyo Entertainment companies established in 1998 Entertainment companies of Japan Japanese companies established in 1998 Joint ventures Nintendo Video game companies established in 1998 Video game companies of Japan Video game publishers