Pokemon Go Helps Out Disaster-Stricken Areas by Filling Them with Desirable Pokemon

Pokemon Go is a great game that seems like it’s just waiting for disaster to strike it. Already it’s been blamed for teenagers walking into traffic, people being inconsiderate at Holocaust memorials, gun-toting idiots shooting at innocent players, and litigious homeowners being annoyed by having people knock on their doors too often. While Pokemon Go is still the new hotness, though, it is using its powers for good by helping to increase tourism to disaster-stricken areas of Japan.

According to Rocket News 24, the Pokemon Company announced this week that it was going to collaborate with eager government officials from Kumamoto, Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima Prefectures. All those places were hit by massive earthquakes in recent years, and recovery has been slow. In many cases–especially Fukushima–recovery efforts have in part been stymied by the fact that their economies previously relied at least in part on tourism dollars, and now nobody wants to go there for fun anymore.

So now those officials and Niantic have teamed up and Niantic says they will be filling those prefectures with extra PokeStops and gyms, and even hosting special “exclusive, game-related events” to get Pokemon Go players to take their phones and their wallets to the afflicted areas.

That’s a pretty great way to help out afflicted areas that are really eager to get people to come visit. Now if only they could get the Pokemon out of places where they aren’t welcome–like the Holocaust Museum–Pokemon would be using its powers only for good. (And for capitalism, of course. I mean, all those Lure Modules aren’t buying themselves.)