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Elderly Japanese man goes Pokémon Go hunting at wife’s grave, offers sweet tribute to lost love

Casey Baseel Apr 26, 2018
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Some say the Pokémon GO craze is over, but the bond between true lovers is eternal (and in this case kind of weird).

In Japanese slang, there’s a phrase, owakon, that’s a mashup of owatta, meaning “finished,” and kontentsu, “media contents.” Basically, once the buzz dies down for a hyped-up anime or video game and people stop playing it, it gets slapped with the owakon label by everyone who’s moved on to the next big thing.

As mobile game Pokémon GO approaches its second birthday, a lot of people would argue that it qualifies as owakon, given that the present-day excitement for the title is nowhere near the social phenomenon-level of enthusiasm players had for it during the summer of 2016. But Japanese Twitter user @michaelsenbay arrived late to the Poké-party, and only recently began playing the game. Also still enjoying the game is an elderly gentleman @michaelsenbay met at the gym, who recently told @michaelsenbay a strange yet deeply moving story about how he caught a rare Snorlax, which is recounted in the following tweet (translation below).

https://twitter.com/michaelsenbay/status/988010303949451264

@michaelsenbay: “So you caught a Snorlax? That’s awesome!”
Elderly man: “Where do you think I caught it?”
@michaelsenbay: “I don’t know. Where?”
Elderly man: “In front of my dead wife’s grave.”
@michaelsenbay: “In front of your dead wife’s grave…”

But that wasn’t all. Pokémon GO allows players to name the Pocket Monsters they catch, and the older man went on to say…

“So since I caught the Snorlax at my wife’s grave, I gave it my wife’s name. My wife is super-strong!”

“I guess this is a sign of true love?” mused @michaelsenbay. Still, he wasn’t about to rain on his friend’s parade. “As he was telling me the story, he looked so happy,” @michaelsenbay continues. “He’s a really nice guy, and one of his dreams is to is to evolve his [Water-type Pokémon] Wailmer before he dies.”

Unusual as the man’s tribute to his late wife may be, it’s still a heartfelt one, and there’s a certain touching sweetness to the fact that visiting her grave isn’t a somber activity, but part of his daily life, just like whipping out his phone and hunting some Pokémon. Maybe the theory that being an otaku is the key to happiness in old age is right after all.

But now I find myself worried that my own wife, who’s been hunting for a Snorlax for months with no luck, might consider offing me so that she can try the spouse’s grave technique for herself…

Source: Twitter/@michaelsenbay via Jin
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Follow Casey on Twitter, where, in Japan, there’s already a Pokémon with his name.