Ikebukuro Pokémon superstore and Pikachu dessert cafe won’t be reopening until nearly half a year after murder.
In late March, the Pokémon Center superstore in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro neighborhood, also known as the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo, became the scene of a tragedy as a 21-year-old worker was stabbed and murdered. The store, as well as the Pikachu Sweets cafe located a short distance away within the same shopping center, were immediately closed down for an indefinite period of time, and a number of events scheduled for April were cancelled at all other branches of the Pokémon Center chain, which has locations across Japan.
Initially, it seemed as if the Ikebukuro Pokémon Center might be reopening in early May, to coincide with the resumption of in-store events as well as Japan’s Golden Week spring vacation period. Golden Week came and went with the store’s shutters still closed, however, and they’re going to remain shut for several months more, as the Pokémon Company has announced that the Ikebukuro Pokémon Center will not be reopening until “around September.” The same timetable has been announced for the reopening of the Pikachu Sweets cafe, which has also remained closed since the incident.
▼ Pikachu Sweets is located on the same floor of the Sunshine City shopping mall as the Ikebukuro Pokémon Center, with the two stores less than a minute’s walk away from each other, but there is no indication that either the victim or murderer was at the cafe on the day of the stabbing.
No statement has been made about whether there will be any changes to the stores’ physical layouts, admission procedures, or any other aspects of its operations. With the murderer of the victim being an ex-boyfriend who was stalking her, the stabbing hasn’t been perceived as a sign of violence related towards Pokémon Center employees or Pokémon fans themselves, but the stabbing was still a shocking demonstration of vulnerabilities in the store’s security protocols, and with Pokémon Centers regularly being packed with customers, many of them children, on weekends and holidays, the Pokémon Company is no doubt feeling a need to rethink and retool how it handles guest safety issues.
Source: Pokémon Center official website (1, 2)
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