Pokemon Go craze finally lands in Japan

Tokyo

PIKACHU was welcomed home by thousands of enthusiastic Japanese gamers on Friday as the global phenomenon that is Pokemon Go was finally launched in its native market.

The smartphone app has now been launched in more than 40 countries, including the US and much of Europe, but Japan - where Nintendo started the mythical creature franchise 20 years ago - was kept waiting.

The suspense lasted for days, as international media reports about a timeline for the Japan rollout kept changing.

Nintendo, the Pokemon Company, and the game's US-based developer Niantic all declined comment. The wait finally ended on Friday, as the game was made available online…