Pokémon Company donates 20 million yen from ecology guide royalties to wildlife research

The Pokémon Company announced on June 18, 2026, that it has donated 20 million yen from royalties of its book "Pokémon Ecology Encyclopedia" to support animal behavior and ecology research in Japan. The donation has been directed to the Bilogging Support Fund, which backs long-term research using bilogging—a technique in which small measurement devices are attached to animals to record their behavior and natural activities in the wild.

The "Pokémon Ecology Encyclopedia," published in June 2025, presents the ecology of Pokémon creatures through the lens of real-world animal behavior science. The book has been highly successful, surpassing 800,000 copies in cumulative circulation and winning numerous accolades including selection as a 2025 bestseller and placement as the top children's book in the first half of 2026 bestseller rankings. The book embodies the Pokémon Company's philosophy of enriching both the virtual and real worlds through the Pokémon brand.

The donation reflects a meaningful connection between the book's creators and the research community. Yoshinari Yonehara, who served as planner, writer, and editor of the encyclopedia at the Pokémon Company, and Chihiro Kinoshita, who illustrated the work, both earned doctoral degrees from the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, where they conducted bilogging research on animal behavior and ecology. Their academic expertise directly informed the book's creation and scientific accuracy.

The donation will support the behavioral ecology measurement group at the University of Tokyo's Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, effectively returning royalty proceeds to the research foundation that shaped the creators' professional development. This initiative represents what the Pokémon Company describes as a circulation of knowledge—leveraging the success of the virtual world guide to advance fundamental biological research in the real world. The Bilogging Support Fund aims to provide sustained, medium to long-term financial support for field-based wildlife monitoring and behavioral research, which often requires extended investigation periods and significant resources.