The Pokémon Company
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Native name
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株式会社ポケモン |
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| Joint venture | |
| Founded | April 23, 1998 (as The Pokémon Center Company) Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan |
| Headquarters |
Minato, Tokyo, Japan Bellevue, Washington, United States London, United Kingdom Seoul, South Korea |
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Key people
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Tsunekazu Ishihara (President) |
| Products | Pokémon franchise |
| Services | Brand management |
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Number of employees
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400 (2016) |
| Parent | |
| Website |
pokemon.co.jp pokemon.jp pokemon.com pokemonkorea.co.kr |
The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン Kabushiki gaisha Pokémon?) is a Japanese company that is responsible for marketing and licensing the Pokémon franchise. It was established through a joint investment by the three businesses holding the copyright on Pokémon: Nintendo, 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 Mori Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo.
The company has separate divisions that handle operations in different areas of the world, with The Pokémon Company International supporting the territories outside Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. In South Korea, the operations are handled by Pokémon Korea, Inc.
In 1998, Nintendo, Creatures, and Game Freak established The Pokémon Center Company 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 anime series and releasing a movie every year. It was then decided that a new organization was needed in order to effectively gather together all the strands of brand management.
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Wikipedia