Imakuni?

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"Imakuni?" (イマクニ?, "Imakuni?"^?), is a name of a costumed character created for the promotion of Pokémon series related products and services. "Imakuni?" appeared in many promotional live events conducted in Japan between 1997 and 2002, although his appearance in front of public has declined since. His name is also credited in many of the Pokémon series music tunes, which can be found in the little more than ten releases of CDs. In one of the releases in 1998, "Imakuni?" participated as one of the trio members of a one-time session group dubbed "Suzukisan", in which he sung together with a popular enka singer Sachiko Kobayashi. The third member of the trio was Raymond Johnson.^[1] "Imakuni?" also appears sometimes as an enemy, or in other case as a trainer, in the Pokémon Trading Card Game series.

While less "live" exposure is found today, "Imakuni?" continues his activity through a blog run by Creatures Inc., a creative and designing company mainly engaged in games, card games, 3D graphics and others.

1 Costumes
2 Popular Beliefs/Rumors
3 Pokémon Trading Card Game
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Costumes

Over the years, he has had several costumes, all which have round, Mickey Mouse style ears.

Round ears, black costume with "イマクニ？" embroidered on the front. (1996–early 2000s)
Curly round ears, black costume with "イマクニ？" on an LCD screen on the front of his costume. This costume had the LCD screen on the front change to match what Pokémon he was saying in Pokémon ierukaNEO?
Round curly ears, silver costume with "イマクニ？" on the front of his costume. He looks like he is wearing a shaggy bathroom rug on his chest and back.

[edit] Popular Beliefs/Rumors

Although there is no such "official" announcement or biography is released by anybody, it is rumored that "Imakuni?"'s real name is Tomoaki Imakuni (今国智章, Imakuni Tomoaki^?), a creative designer working for Creatures Inc. Imakuni Tomoaki is credited as one of the co-authors of a book called Pokémon Tales: Come Out, Squirtle!:Come Out, Squirtle!, VIZ Media LLC, 2006 (ISBN-10: 1421509334)

He was reported by Beckett and Pojo that: "Imakuni?" does not mean "Mouse Man," Imakuni?'s full name is Tomoaki Imakuni.

Imakuni? is not gay or a cross-dresser, despite a rumor in a Japanese magazine, although he was once pictured in a dress for a Japanese magazine.

[edit] Pokémon Trading Card Game

Imakuni? appears as an adversary in the Pokémon Trading Card Game game for the Game Boy Color. The game also features a trainer card of the same name.