NEW YORK, Aug. 10 -- Pokemon, for the second consecutive year, made a summertime visit to the House that Ruth Built for "Pokemon Plush Toy Day" as the New York Yankees took on the Seattle Mariners Saturday. At the sold-out game, young fans took home plush characters like Psyduck, Meowth and Squirtle provided by the Pokemon Center NY in Rockefeller Center. Fans at the Stadium had the home field advantage with a sneak peek of Pokemon Advanced -- season six of the animated series on Kids WB! -- on the giant DiamondVision screen. Pikachu, the Pokemon ambassador, and Treecko, a new addition from red-hot Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire video games, made a special pre-game appearance on the famous field to get the crowd psyched up for one of the most-anticipated games of the season.
The New York Yankees faced the Seattle Mariners in a battle between two perennial American League powers, bringing together a duo of Japan's most popular exports: the Yankees' Hideki Matsui and Pokemon, which just celebrated its fifth anniversary in the United States.
Beyond the inherent excitement of the game was the cross-cultural significance; just as America has embraced Japanese pop culture -- movies, anime, new TV programs and franchises like Pokemon -- Japan has embraced America's national pastime.
"Pokemon Plush Toy Day at Yankee Stadium is summer entertainment at its best," says Akira Chiba, President of Pokemon USA. "What makes it even more exciting is how America has fallen in love with two of Japan's hottest exports -- Pokemon and now Matsui as a member of the Yankees."
Pokemon USA, Inc., the New York-based subsidiary of The Pokemon Company in Japan, manages and oversees the Pokemon franchise in North and Latin Americas, which includes licensing, merchandising, TV animation, theatrical releases, home video entertainment, the official Pokemon website, the Pokemon Center NY in Rockefeller Center and PokemonCenter.com, an e-commerce site. Pokemon was launched in Japan in 1996 for play on Game Boy(R), the world's best-selling video game system. It has since evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Since the Pokemon franchise arrived in North America in September of 1998, more than 110 million Pokemon video games have been sold worldwide by Nintendo. Pokemon merchandise has generated over $15 billion in worldwide retail sales since 1998. The trading card game, fueled by organized play programs in 47 countries, has spurred global sales of 9.8 billion cards to date. For more information on Pokemon, visit www.pokemon.com.
