Pokemon creator interview time magazine

Tajiri grew up in what was then a small town in rural Japan, exploring nature, especially all the creepy crawlers under rocks and vegetation. He became so singularly focused on catching and collecting insects from the surrounding local parks and forests that other kids nicknamed him Dr. His obsession with insects could have been the result of the difficulties he had with social interaction and communication with others.

Nature, though, had its own language that spoke to Tajiri. In a Time magazine interview, he said the idea of collecting things and the way that his mind works are connected, and that when it comes to video games, he likes the idea of catching things and growing them.

Time magazine pokemon bulbasaur

As time went on, his rural Japan began to modernize and his interests migrated from insects to arcade video games that were capturing the attention of teenagers around the world at the time. As one source puts it, the rigid structures of school felt confining for Tajiri, leaving him feeling isolated and misunderstood. Through video games, he could connect to other worlds.

His new obsession led him to start a video gaming magazine. The first issue was handwritten by Tajiri himself. With the help of a friend that shared his interest in video games, the magazine grew on a small scale, but his interest in the video games and the technology behind them had no bounds.