Protective custody for 553 minors in ‘Pokemon Go’ cases

About a month after the Japan release of the “Pokemon Go” smartphone game app, 553 minors had been taken into protective custody in Tokyo by the Metropolitan Police Department in relation to the game, according to investigative sources. The police intend to continue to patrol the busy streets in September after school summer vacations end, the sources said. According to MPD officials, the number of children who play “Pokemon Go” late at night in parks and on busy streets in central Tokyo has rapidly increased since the game app became available on July 22. Police took 449 minors into protective custody by the end of the month for misconduct such as loitering between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m, defined as “the middle of the night” by a metropolitan ordinance. Reflecting a calming of the “Pokemon Go” boom, the number of minors taken into protective custody was just 104 during the...