Kotaku East East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am. Prev Next View All

The World Cup is starting soon—real soon. June 12, actually! You know what that means? Merchandising. And in Japan, that means Pokémon merchandising.


Since Japan's official World Cup mascot is Pikachu, the character is being put on a whole bunch of things so people will buy them. Makes sense!


Better yet, in Japan, Pikachu is already slapped on a bunch of things. Now, the character is on a bunch of things in a World Cup jersey. Gotta catch 'em all!

In-store display proudly features Pikachu. [Pic: zugotta]


Here are Pikachu sandwich cakes. They are flavored "milk ichigo" (ミルクイチGO) a pun on "milk strawberry" and "go first." [Pic: rabienrose310]


More Pikachu World Cup soccer snacks. [Pic: 3sasanosassa4]


Towels. [Pic: kyangab]


A notebook. Well, two notebooks (one is not for the World Cup, but rather, Yokai Watch). [Pic: kimubun]


Donuts. [Pic: withrilakkuma_S]


Pikachu World Cup bread comes with little stickers (all Pokemon bread does, but the World Cup-branded ones come with stickers like this.) [Pic: jun_hz]


A hat. [Pic: oi_mnm]


A kiddy jersey. [Pic: ega_watari]


Chewing gum. [Pic: kenta_ebityuu]


Plush toys. Note the coin cases. [Pic: mi0nyan_a]


A thermos. Note the thermos. [Pic: soccer_nipponda]


Another uniform for kids. [Pic: GALLERY2_shop]


Paper for origami. This also comes with stickers. [Pic: keimass_soccer]


A Pokéball... soccer ball. And no, it's not as big as an actual soccer ball, but rather, Pokéball-sized. [Pic: Takara Tomy]

To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft .

Advertisement