Peninsula Tokyo guests can hunt lost Pokemon
Luxury accommodation unleashes an interactive, hotel-wide gaming experience
TOKYO— To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pokemon this year, the Peninsula Tokyo, an international luxury hotel in the upscale Marunouchi business district of Japan’s capital, has launched the Pokemon Hotel Adventure: The Power of Ten. It’s the city’s first customized interactive Pokemon hotel experience.
Designed for the hotel by the Pokemon Company, the characters Pikachu, Lucario and friends are featured in an interactive, hotel-wide gaming experience.
Guests ages 5 and older, equipped with a Pokeball, magnifying glass, detective’s journal and map, take on the role of a deputy investigator on a mission to seek out Pokemon characters.
Following clues on digital displays hidden in 10 spots throughout the hotel, they follow the trail of Pokemon characters reported missing. At each clue location, enthusiastic hotel staff reveal bits of the story, deepening the mystery as players solve picture puzzles, match and sort shapes and letters and use the magnifying glass to find hidden codes.
Hotel guests that take part are rewarded with a Pikachu hat and an original pageboy Pikachu plush doll wearing the trademark Peninsula pageboy jacket and gold-braided white pillbox cap.
“On average we get around 10 participants every month,” says Sonja Vodusek, general manager of the Peninsula Tokyo. “We see mainly families with children between the ages of 5 and 12 play the game but adults who grew up with Pokemon enjoy it, too.”
Of course, with Pokemon Go available in Japan this summer, the hotel expects the number to rise.
On July 22, the day of the mobile game’s release in the country, more than 10 million people downloaded the game, reported USA Today, including 1.3 million in the first three hours.
As the world’s second-largest mobile gaming market, Pokemania is in full swing in Japan, with increased attendance and revenue figures reported at PokeStops, from museums to McDonald’s restaurants.
The Peninsula Tokyo has also been tagged with two PokeStops on the free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game, including Peter restaurant, the hotel’s fine dining grill perched on the 24th floor overlooking the Imperial Palace, and Graff, the high-end jewelry shop near the main lobby.
The Peninsula’s interactive Pokemon Hotel Adventure game uses an array of advanced technology, including sensors, personal identification and visual technology.
The hotel hunt for lost Pokemon characters finishes with an augmented reality experience involving a “magic mirror” in a secret chamber deep within the hotel designed for a climactic ending. Denise Dias (denisediasto@gmail.com) is a Toronto writer.