BODY: If you've ever wondered where Pokémon go when they doze off, this summer Yokohama has the answer. To celebrate the third anniversary of the sleep-tracking app Pokémon Sleep, The Pokémon Company is taking the game off your nightstand and into the real world.
The event, officially titled "Pokémon Sleep 3rd Anniversary: Find Them in Yokohama! Pokémon Sleeping-Face Research presented by MITSUBISHI ESTATE GROUP," runs from July 17 to August 23. It's a co-production with real-estate giant Mitsubishi Estate, staged across two of Minato Mirai's landmark commercial properties: Yokohama Landmark Tower and the MARK IS Minatomirai mall.
The centerpiece is a stamp rally built around the game's signature hook — collecting the adorable sleeping poses (negao, or "sleeping faces") of Pokémon. Visitors hunt down hidden sleeping Pokémon scattered across the venues, mirroring the core loop of the app, where players log their own sleep to discover how Snorlax's slumbering friends spend the night.
Pokémon Sleep launched in July 2023 after years of teasing, fusing a health-tracking sleep monitor with collectible gameplay. Three years on, the franchise is betting that fans want to experience that gentle, wind-down world in physical space — and a busy summer shopping district full of families is a natural fit.
The insider take
Pairing with Mitsubishi Estate is the quiet story here. Minato Mirai is one of the company's flagship developments, and Japanese IP holders increasingly lean on real-estate partners to turn malls into destination experiences during the summer holidays, when families flood in looking for air-conditioned, kid-friendly outings. For Pokémon, a low-key, walkable stamp rally is on-brand for Sleep in a way a high-energy event never could be — and it keeps the property buzzing through Japan's brutal August heat.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).