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Seeing as how Japan is the franchise’s home market, and also where corporate parent Nintendo is headquartered, it’s not surprising that Japan gets the lion’s share (or Pyroar’s share), of cool Pokémon stuff. After all, this is the country where people have been able to attend Pikachu parades, dine at Pokémon Cafes, and even purchase business-suited pocket monster plushies.

But one thing Japanese fans haven’t had, though, is a Japanese Facebook page for the Pokémon franchise. At least, not until this week, when Pikachu and pals made their Japanese Facebook debut accompanied by a short but sweet cherry blossom party video.

The English-speaking world has had its own Pokémon Facebook page for years. Social media has taken longer to catch on in Japan, though, especially for kid-centric intellectual properties. However, it’s now become such an ubiquitous part of many people’s lives, both young and old, that it was time for Pokémon to have a presence, in Japanese, on Facebook.

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Of course, the opening of this new outlet of Pokémon information isn’t the only exciting thing going on in Japan these days. Right now, the cherry blossoms are blooming all over the country, so the page’s first-ever post is a video showing Pikachu as his attention is caught by a fluttering sakura petal.

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Chasing after it, he comes to a whole grove of cherry trees, where a number of other Pokémon are waiting for him.

▼ Including, of course, Cherrim, the cherry blossom Pokémon

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That’s not the only video on the Japanese Pokémon Facebook page, either. You can also enjoy this soothing/psychedelic music video starring Slowpoke, or Yadon, as he’s known in Japan.

▼ “The song “Wassup, Yadon?” features such deep lyrics as, “His huge mouth is always open like a convenience store…The sweetness of his tail is sometimes a snack for kids.”

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While we’re a little bummed out that the individual Pokémon don’t each have their own accounts (we’d love to be able to say we’re Facebook friends with Pikachu), we’re always happy to have more cute Pokémon in our lives. If you’re interested in seeing what’s new with the franchise in Japan, you can check out the new Facebook page right here.

Related: Pokémon Japanese Facebook
Source: Culture Lab
Top image: Facebook
Insert images: Facebook (1, 2, 3)