• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Creatures Inc. (Pokemon) devs face backlash after visit to shrine associated with war crimes

Status
Not open for further replies.
spam musubi

spam musubi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,380
https://kotaku.com/pokemon-studio-criticized-after-visiting-controversial-1831601511

If you're unfamiliar, I'd recommend familiarizing yourself with the controversial history of the shrine first: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_surrounding_Yasukuni_Shrine

When Japanese politicians visit the Yasukuni Shrine, the country's most controversial Shinto shrine, it causes an international incident. The same is true for when Pokémon developers.

In Japanese, the first Shinto shrine visit of the year is called hatsumode.People visit Shinto shrines that are close to either where they live, or if they are going as a company, near where they work. The enshrine kami or deity looks over and protects the surrounding areas.

As popular Japanese game site My Game News Flash notes, staff from Creatures Inc., the studio behind Pokémon games, toys and cards, came under fire for visiting their local shrine, the Yasukuni Shrine.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Worth noting that it's not just a few twitter randos, the story was trending on twitter and weibo: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190108000583

A translation of their tweet from the Korea Herald article: "We are worshiping at the Yasukuni Shrine to celebrate the year's first day of work."

Note that it's hard to feign ignorance about the controversial history of the shrine, it is a constant source of protests, attacks, and international controversy. Right wing nationalist groups go there frequently to celebrate: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45821700
 
Status
Not open for further replies.