Pokemon event at Yasukuni shrine in Japan cancelled after drawing China’s ire
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The Pokemon Company on Jan 30 issued an apology on its website.
PHOTO: THE POKEMON COMPANY
TOKYO – A Pokemon card game event originally scheduled to be held at the war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo on the weekend has been cancelled after triggering a backlash from China,
The Pokemon Company on Jan 30 issued an apology on its website, saying it had listed information about an event at the shrine for Jan 31 organised by individuals without confirming it. The event was later called off.
The Shinto shrine honours Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an international tribunal after World War II, along with millions of war dead. China and South Korea, which suffered under Japan’s aggression, view it as a symbol of Tokyo’s past militarism.
The Global Times, a tabloid affiliated with the ruling Communist Party of China, said earlier this week that the move to hold a Pokemon event at the “notorious” shrine had “invited criticism from Chinese netizens, with many saying that Japanese companies that profit from China while undermining China’s interests shouldn’t be tolerated”. KYODO NEWS
