, simply known as Pokémon is a Japanese company responsible for

brand management In marketing, brand management refers to the process of controlling how a brand is perceived in the market (economics), market. Tangible elements of brand management include the look, price, and packaging of the product itself; intangible element ...

, production,

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

, and

licensing A license (American English) or licence ( Commonwealth English) 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 par ...

of the ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'' franchise, which consists of

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

, a trading card game, anime television series,

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

home entertainment A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be pe ...

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

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

Game Freak is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer and co-owners of the ''Pokémon (video game series), Pokémon'' series of role-playing video games. History Predating the video game company, ''Game Freak'' was a self- ...

, and Creatures—to focus in the multimedia franchise which became too big to be managed only by them. It was founded in April 1998 originally to operate the Pokémon Center stores in Japan before expanding to the entire franchise in October 2000 as it rebranded to its current name. The company is headquartered in the

Roppongi Hills is a development project in Tokyo and one of Japan's largest integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo. Constructed by building tycoon Minoru Mori, the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartm ...

Mori Tower in

Roppongi Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, 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 popu ...

Minato, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. Minato was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba, Tokyo, Shiba wards following Tokyo City's Local Autonomy Ac ...

. 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 the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and being responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the ''Pokémon'' Trading Card Game, and the official ''Pokémon'' website on the territories outside Asia, including

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Since 2001, The Pokémon Company has handled

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Convention, articl ...

of all ''Pokémon'' video games in Japan, while Nintendo handles distribution and worldwide co-publication with The Pokémon Company International. Both companies work together in localization, production, QA, and other aspects, while development is handled by different companies contracted in spin-offs and by Game Freak in mainline titles. 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 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 TV 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 Satoru Iwata (; December6, 1959July11, 2015) was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer and producer. Beginning in 2002, he was the fourth president of Nintendo, as well as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo of America from ...

, 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 is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

, Tohoku (

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Skytree Town (Oshiage), Tokyo-Bay ( Chiba),

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

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 has b ...

and

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan 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 ancient times. ...

. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. Nintendo Australia 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 legal 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, ...

acknowledgments with the original three owners of "©Nintendo", "© GAME FREAK inc." and "© Creatures Inc." 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 (trade name, trading as Takara Tomy in Asia and Tomy elsewhere) is a Japanese toy company. It was established in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama as , became known for creating popular toys like the B-29 friction toy and luck-based game Pop-up Pi ...

and Jazwares. In October 2001,

4Kids Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation; stylized as 4K!DS ENTERTAINMENT) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production ...

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 Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. 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 (King County, Washington), 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 the f ...

, at the Lincoln Square complex; the headquarters is planned to move in January 2025 to another high-rise building in Bellevue where it will occupy sixteen stories. The Pokémon Company International's 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

is located in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Some Australian operations are controlled by Nintendo Australia. 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

co-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 s ...

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. In March 2024, The Pokémon Company and ILCA established a new subsidiary joint venture called The Pokémon Works to develop and support future Pokémon projects.

List of works

Games & TCG

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

Pokémon Trading Card Game The , abbreviated as ''PTCG'' or ''Pokémon TCG'', is a tabletop and collectible card game developed by Creatures Inc. based on the ''Pokémon'' franchise. Originally published in Japan by Media Factory in 1996, publishing worldwide is curre ...

'' * '' Pokémon Trading Figure Game''

Anime

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

Books

* ''Pokémon'' manga

Live-action film

* '' Pokémon Detective Pikachu''

References

External links

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