Pokémon is a juggernaut of Japanese popular culture that has been running strong for thirty years. The NOT A HOTEL company was created in 2020. It creates high-end, architecturally distinctive villas that are operated under a form of timeshare. NOT A HOTEL has designed and constructed a Poké-Ball-themed hotel in collaboration with Pokémon. Ten lucky winners of an internet lottery will win a one-night stay for two.
The Pokémon experience is essentially about exploring and collecting. Its products transitioned through gaming to trading cards and a full-length movie in the late 1990s.
In 2016, it launched Pokémon Go, which let players search for and collect Pokémon characters worldwide on their smartphones. Unsurprisingly, its founder, Satoshi Tajiri, was an avid bug collector as a child.
In 2023, Pokémon launched Pokémon Sleep, an app that analyzes sleep patterns. Pokémon associated with the user’s sleep pattern then become available for them to collect and care for during waking hours. The NOT A HOTEL collaboration celebrates the third year anniversary of the Pokémon Sleep app, as well as being a part of the 30-year anniversary of the Pokémon franchise.
A Pokémon Experience for the Ages
The Poké-Ball-themed hotel is in Tamakomai, Hokkaido, near Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport. Situated on the edge of a lake, it has a spherical structure, three meters in diameter. The press release promises that guests will enjoy the feeling of “diving right into the world of Pokémon.”
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Dinner and breakfast are included; transportation to Hokkaido is not. The application period ends September 30 at 23:59. Each one-night stay will fall within the 8th to 18th of October. Application information (in Japanese) can be found here.
The Thrills and Frustrations of Collecting
The Poké-Ball hotel is not open for reservations from the general public. The hotel experience will be purely limited to the lottery winners. Dedicated fans will therefore be understandably irritated. For Pokémon devotees, however, this experience is hardly new.
In August 2025, Pokémon famously ran a campaign with the McDonald’s hamburger chain in which cards and toys were included with certain set meals. Collectors flocked to the outlets. Long lines formed as they bought up multiple set meals, many of which were discarded uneaten. The campaign ended early after a stream of complaints from inconvenienced regular customers who had simply wanted to buy and eat some food.
A 30-year anniversary series of trading cards is presently on sale, designed by Japanese artist Yoshirotten. However, buyers may need to be patient again, as sold-out signs are the norm.
For those not chosen in the Poké-Ball lottery, frustration will be compounded by the strict stipulation that sightseeing and photography at the Poké-Ball location are strictly prohibited. The “understanding and cooperation” of Pokémon fans is requested―a considerable ask given the passion that Pokémon generates and its culture of exploration and collection.
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Author: Paul de Vries
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AloJapan.com