A Pokémon Center Employee Has Reportedly Died After An Attack In Tokyo

Update [Thu 26th Mar 2026, 9:18pm]: The Pokémon Company has released a statement on its website saying that the store will remain "temporarily closed in order to fully cooperate with the police and to prioritize the physical and mental well-being of our staff" (via Google Translate).

Here's the full machine-translated text of the statement:

Notice of Temporary Closure of Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo & Pikachu Sweets
March 26, 2026
Thank you for your continued patronage of Pokémon Centers.

Due to an incident that occurred on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo in Sunshine City, Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, we will be temporarily closed in order to fully cooperate with the police and to prioritize the physical and mental well-being of our staff.

We sincerely apologize for the great concern and inconvenience this may cause.

We will inform you of the reopening date at a later time.

We appreciate your understanding.

The Pokémon Company
The Pokémon Center Co., Ltd.

Original Story: Warning: Please be advised that this post includes details that may cause distress.

A female employee at The Pokémon Center in the Sunshine City complex in Tokyo has died following a fatal stabbing incident on the evening of 26th March 2026, according to reports from news outlets.

According to broadcaster TV Asahi (via Reuters), a woman in her 20s was stabbed at 7:16 pm local time by a man, also in his 20s.

The man, said to be armed with two knives, injured himself following the attack, and both were pronounced dead at a hospital within the hour. Motives for the attack are not yet known, nor whether the two knew each other.

Videos have since been posted online to show employees and shoppers running from the scene while ambulances converged on the scene.

The Pokémon Company has not yet commented on the incident at the time of writing.

We'll update this story as we hear more information.