Japanese city yanks cuisine tourism cards after Pokémon plagiarism complaints

The Japan Heritage Utilization Promotion Council of Obama City and Wakasa Town came up with a fun idea to spread the word on the many eateries in their neck of the woods, but those plans have now been scrapped due to plagiarism accusations. (h/t VGC)

Council members had come together to create a series of trading cards that were meant to promote local restaurants, and you can see those cards above. The idea is definitely a good one, but it’s the artwork on the cards and their style that drew a lot of complaints. It’s easy to see why, as much of what you see on the cards is at least inspired by Pokémon, but in some cases it seems the designs are blatant rip-offs of Pokémon Co. I.P..

Following the accusations, a spokesperson for Obama City did admit that the designs were very similar, but said that once the cards, created by a local company, were turned into the council for approval, no one shared any concerns about the designs being too similar to Pokémon. Furthermore, the company that created the cards did say they were inspired by Pokémon, but said no direct plagiarism took place.

Plans to distribute more of these cards have been called off, but those who’ve already snag some sets will be able to hang onto them. In other words, those lucky few who have these cards are now in possession of some serious collector’s items!