Phenomena and Phobia through Pokémon GO: An Analysis of the Reactions on the Augmented Reality Game in Japan

Abstract

This chapter looks at government and media warnings of playing Pokémon GO in Japan. This chapter argues that even though Japan is often portrayed as a country that has a high affinity with technology, it has simultaneously been suspicious towards new forms of digital technology, showing an interesting stance towards the digitalisation of society. The case of Pokémon GO illustrates that Japanese have also shown the same anxieties towards other media technologies in the past. Some of these anxieties are health hazard caused by addictive handheld gaming, accidents and deaths caused by inattentive drivers, as well as moral decline. Some of these anxieties can be explained by the different attitudes towards technologies between the older and the younger generations: while the former sees technologies are only for work, the latter sees them as play.