Hiroshima and Nagasaki have asked the developer of Pokemon Go to exclude key places for prayer in the western Japan cities from the sites featured in the blockbuster smartphone game, it was learned Wednesday.
According to the Hiroshima municipal government, “PokeStops” where players of the game can obtain “items” are found around Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in the park, and “gyms,” locations for battles between Pokemon monsters they collect in the game, are seen around the Atomic Bomb Dome just outside the park.
The atomic-bombed city asked the U.S. developer, Niantic Inc., in an email on Tuesday to delete the spots, saying that people visiting the park to offer prayers and tourists are finding it difficult to approach facilities there because players of Pokemon Go, which was released in Japan on Friday, are flocking to the park.
The solemn and calm atmosphere at the sacred places could be lost as a result, the email also said.
Hiroshima asked the firm to respond by the time the city holds its annual memorial ceremony on Aug. 6 for victims of the U.S. atomic bomb that was dropped on the city on that day in 1945, toward the end of World War II.
Source: English Jiji Image: ANN
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