THE REAL POKÉMON MASTER - The Story of Satoshi Tajiri

Throughout the ’90s there were many fads that died away before the end of the decade, from beanie babies to the Macarena to the Rachel haircut. Most fads tend to fade away as fast as they appeared, yet one fad from the ’90s is going stronger than ever in 2022, Pokémon. Initially launched in Japan in 1996, originally named Pocket Monsters, this monster collector game for the Game Boy became a raging success to this day. Yet not many know the story and the man behind the Pikachu craze, one Satoshi Tajiri. A man that had a dream and fought for that dream to become a reality.

Gotta Catch Them All

Born on August 28th, 1965 in Machida, Tokyo which at that time still maintained a rural feel, Satoshi Tajiri had a peculiar hobby, he loved collecting bugs out in the gardens and forests nearby. Known as Dr. Bug around the schoolyard, Tajiri would spend hours upon hours hunting down bugs while his fellow schoolmates played sports or did art. Sadly as the urban areas of Japan and especially Tokyo started to spread, the forest and gardens Tajiri would spend hours in disappeared as the urban areas took over. This also meant that Tajiri’s one true passion was also gone. As a teenager, however, Tajiri found a new passion, that of video games. The young man became addicted to Space Invaders, a game he would play constantly throughout his teenage years, even if his parents saw him as a delinquent for doing so. That passion grew more and more, to the point that he wanted to make his own games. Inspired by the Namco games of the time, eventually winning a competition hosted by big-name players Sega for a video game idea. Nothing came for it, yet his passion did not fade. Although thanks to his single focus on video games, Tajiri’s school work suffered due to him cutting class to go play at the arcade. Whereas his fellow students graduated, Tajiri had to take numerous make-up classes to eventually get his high school diploma. In Japan at the time, going to university was essential for any High School student, yet Tajiri saw no point in wasting his time with University and preferred to focus on his passion. He would eventually sign up to a two-year technical degree program at Tokyo National College of Technology, where he majored in electronics and computer science.

Gaming Obsession