The late journalist Soichi Oya (1900-70) was regarded in his times as the "emperor" of Japan's mass media. Writing for a short-lived magazine called Shukan Tokyo back in February 1957, Oya lamented the intellectual decline of his fellow Japanese. Those remarks were encapsulated into the oft-repeated phrase Terebi ichioku sō-hakuchika (The dumbing down of the 100 million — i.e., the entire nation of Japan — through television).
It's a pity Oya is not here today to provide a pithy comment about the overnight popularity of "Pokemon Go." The "augmented reality" game from U.S. firm Niantic Inc., with characters licensed from Nintendo, was already a huge hit in several countries when it was released in Japan on July 22. More than 10 million people here were said to have downloaded the free game on the first day of its release.
Cartoonist Mitsuru Yaku vented his spleen at the game in tabloid Nikkan Gendai (Jul. 29), complaining, "It's nothing if not stupid."
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