This Bizarre Rumor About Pokemon's Creator Has Finally Been Squashed
There aren't many places in the world that the "Pokémon" franchise hasn't touched. Developed by Game Freak, the franchise debuted with the release of "Pocket Monsters Red and Green" in 1996 for the Game Boy. The game was so successful that a "Pokemon" animated series was released the following year. Since then, "Pokémon" has evolved into a bonafide media empire and has become one of the world's most forefront and beloved franchises of all time. We all have designer and franchise founder Satoshi Tajiri to thank for that.
Satoshi Tajiri was inspired to create the "Pokémon" franchise after being inspired by his hobby of bug collecting in his youth and wanting to create a game that captured the excitement of such a hobby (via IGN). Because of this, many fans have theorized about Tajiri's motivations and what makes him tick. One bizarre rumor pertaining to Tajiri having Asperger's Syndrome, in particular, has become commonplace in discussions regarding him, but a recent revelation seems to have finally squashed any such conjecture.
Game Freak has confirmed that Satoshi Tajiri does not have Asperger's
For anyone who is unaware, Asperger's Syndrome is a neurological disorder on the autism spectrum that is distinguished by difficulty with social interactions and restricted interests among other identifiable characteristics (via ASAT Online). One common practice among people with the disorder is a penchant for collecting, something Satoshi Tajiri enjoyed as a child and helped him to conceive of the "Pokémon" concept. For years, rumors of Tajiri having the disorder were accepted as fact and were even perpetuated by prestigious and trusted news organizations like the BBC in op-eds on Tajiri and "Pokémon." According to a recent statement from Yuri Sakuri of Game Freak, the company with which Tajiri founded the "Pokémon" IP, these rumors are simply not true.
"When I was seeing Tajiri's page on Wikipedia, although there is a text about Asperger syndrome in 'Satoshi Tajiri' page," Sakuri told Asperger-Syndrome.me (transcribed by VGC). "There is the state of being untrue. Then, this untrue causes from your website. This is not the truth. Tajiri has not Autism and Asperger syndrome." Sakuri said that the rumor wasn't true, and that including the false information degrades the quality of webpages that continue to spread the false belief. It appears that rumors of Tajiri having Asperger's first sprouted up in a biography released in 2009 called "Satoshi Tajiri, Pokémon Creator," which Tajiri claimed was erroneous.