Midori Harada Interview

Interview Conducted on: June 27th, 2009 - Strasbourg, France

Midori Harada (原田みどり) is a Japanese illustrator known for her artistic talent and among other things, having worked on Pokémon. She has done the artwork for many of the Pokémon Trading Card game playing cards but her artwork can also be found in the video games, especially in the official playing guides. In conjunction with our French affiliate PokemonEspace, we had the opportunity to interview her during her visit to Strasbourg, France on June 27th and ask her a few quick questions about her involvement in Pokémon. We would also thank the team at ShiFuMi in Strasbourg, France for making this interview possible.

A french translation of the interview can be found on PokemonEspace by clicking here.

Pictures from her visit to Strasbourg, France are available on the Imageboard thread.

Question: Hello Midori Harada. We are members of the Pokémon community websites Pokémon Espace and PocketMonsters.net. We are happy to talk with you today. Can you quickly tell us about the work you have done on Pokémon?
Midori Harada: Hi. I'm happy to meet Pokemon fans in France. I have been doing the conceptual art in the Pokemon video game for some time, specifically the region maps, and also the artwork in the Trading Card Game. I've done more than 250 cards.

Question: How did you get involved with the Pokemon franchise ?
Midori Harada: 12 or 13 years ago, Pokémon's popularity exploded, and the toys division needed a designer who loved Pokemon. That's how I was contacted.

Question: When did you start to draw? Did you study art at school ?
Midori Harada: I've been drawing for a very long time. I studied art at university.



Question: We know you worked on the Distortion World and the Battle Frontier in Pokemon Platinum. Where do you get the inspiration for your art designs? Did you work on the eleventh film, in which we people can see the Distortion World ?
Midori Harada: I only worked on landscapes and maps, after that I don't know much, and the Pokémon Company is so discreet and forbids us to tell anything. Moreover, they tell us the least amount possible, to keep the surprise effect. I didn't work of the actual 11th Pokémon film, unfortunately. However, I did work on the 8th Pokémon movie. About the Distortion World, Game Freak's director and I worked a lot on it. We did a lot of research about space sciences.

Question: We know that you did drawings of the different Pokémon world maps (Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kanto, Johto etc). Did you create the region or you just do the artwork for it?
Midori Harada: Game Freak usually arrives with a basic design of the region of each game.



Question: How did you get involved with the Pokémon Trading Card Game?
Midori Harada: Luckily, quite simply. Pokémon is a big franchise, and sometimes, somebody contacts you for a bigger responsibility, or for a new way of work. After the work I did on the region maps, I've been working on the Trading Card Game.

Question: Do you play the Pokémon Trading Card Game?
Midori Harada: Not really, I do not have much time. But I love the concept, it's very nice.



Question: What do you think of the Pokémon phenomenon in Japan? Have you been to any of the Pokémon Trading Card Game events?
Midori Harada: I love the Japanese "Pokemon Center", but unfortunately I have not participated in any events.

Question: Do you work on projects other than Pokémon? What are you currently working on?
Midori Harada: I am not working on a particular Pokémon project at this time, but the future will tell us if I will get involved into a new one. However, I sometimes help on toy's design and on ads.

Question: Do you have anything else you've like to add for our readers?
Midori Harada: Thank you so much for your love of Pokémon. I like it a lot myself.

Final Remarks: Thank you Midori Harada for sharing this moment with us and we hope to see you in France again very soon.
Midori Harada: I hope to return to France as soon as possible, and then to see the fans again. I also want to visit another countries.

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