On September 4th, 2018,
Typhoon Jebi made landfall over the Kansai region of Japan causing massive flooding to
Kansai International Airport. On September 5th, 2018, a 6.6 magnitude
earthquake hit Hokkaido, Japan. Due to these disasters, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo announced temporary closures to some
Pokémon Center and Stores as well as rescheduling the September 2018 Nintendo Direct.
Pokémon Store Kansai Airport
The
Kansai International Airport Pokémon Store recently announced that they were expanding, but due to access to the airport being very difficult due to a bridge being damaged, the store will be closed for the time being. It will be announced on the Voice Pokémon website when it will reopen again.
Pokémon Center Sapporo
Due to the earthquake impacting the local power grid, the Pokémon Center will be closed and hopefully reopen on Saturday, September 8th, 2018 at 10am JST.
Pokémon Store New Chitose Airport
The
New Chitose Airport Pokémon Store was also affected by power outages due to the earthquake and it will be closed for the time being. The stores reopening will be announced on the Voice Pokémon website.
September 2018 Nintendo Direct
Nintendo
originally announced that a
Nintendo Direct would take place on September 6th, 2018 at 6pm EST but that was mere hours before the
earthquake in Hokkaido. Due to that powerful earthquake, Nintendo decided to delay the planned Nintendo Direct and informed viewers that they would provide a new time and date for the broadcast.
Pokémon GO - September 8th - 10th, 2018 - Moltres Day and EX Raids Canceled for Hokkaido Japan
Niantic also posted on the Japanese Pokémon GO Twitter account that Moltres Day and EX Raids scheduled for September 8th, 2018 to September 10th, 2018, were canceled in the Hokkaido region of Japan due to the earthquake. No rescheduled events were announced.
Sources:
https://twitter.com/PokemonGOAppJP/status/1037994136333209600,
https://voice.pokemon.co.jp/stv/zenten/2018/09/post-9505.html and
https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1037596347979812864