PRESS RELEASE

September 16, 2011

Mr. Tsunekazu Ishihara(President and Representative Director of the Pokémon Company)

wins the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award
Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association
The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA; Chairman: Yoichi Wada; location: Minato-ku,Tokyo) determined that the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award for significant contribution tothe development of the game industry goes to Mr. Tsunekazu Ishihara (the Pokémon Company), theproducer of the Pokémon series.
The award ceremony was held yesterday on September 15 on the event stage at the TOKYO GAMESHOW 2011(venue: Makuhari Messe Exhibition Hall 8)
The reasons for selecting Mr. Ishihara are as follows.

・ As the producer of Pokémon, for which more than 160 million worldwide of just the game titles of theseries alone have been sold, Mr. Ishihara established an enormous market by sublimely developing
the series in various formats, starting from game software to movies, TV animation and card games,
which are loved by people around the world regardless of generations and borders.

・ Mr. Ishihara also showcased fresh ways of playing games by evolving the Pokémon series fromindividual gaming to gaming which allows friends and even the world to play together. Through his
producing ability and business model of brand management, he widened possibilities to draw on theattractiveness of the game to the fullest extent.

[Brief Biography of Mr. Tsunekazu Ishihara]
1983: graduated from the University of Tsukuba with a master’s in Art and Design. Worked on development of various
game software as a Game Producer.
1995: founded Creatures Inc.
1996: produced “Pokémon Red and Green,” which became the origin of the Pokémon series later on. Then worked onevery Pokémon software title as a Producer. Inspired to develop Japan’s first trading card game “Pokémon
Card Game.”
1998: founded the Pokémon Center Company (now The Pokémon Company) and became Representative
Director concurrently.
Currently, responsible for Brand Management of the entire Pokémon series including video games, card games, TVanimation and movies at The Pokémon Company.

The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award was created in 2008 with sponsorship from theMinistry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is the only award to recognize an “individual” who fromthe results of a work created and announced in recent years has been evaluated as having made a great
contribution to the growth and the development of the Japanese home-use video game industry. Everyyear, selection is conducted with careful screenings by the Japan Game Awards Selection Committee(Chairman: Takeshi Yoro, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Professor at Kitasato
University).
[Past Winners]
The 1st Year (2008): Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo Co., Ltd.)The 2nd Year (2009): The development team of “Monster Hunter” (CAPCOM Co., Ltd.)The 3rd Year (2010): Mr. Yuji Horii (game designer)[Photos from the Commendation Ceremony]
Photos of the commendation ceremony and award winners are posted on the download site. Please login
from the following website: https://www.filey.jp/tgs/(A press ID must be entered to log in. ID: tgs_press, password: press_tgs）
Contacts for More information and Inquiries
Contacts for press regarding the Japan Game Awards:
Until Sunday, September 18 (Press Room at TOKYO GAME SHOW 2011):
TEL: +81-43-296-4152; FAX: +81-43-296-4153
On and after Tuesday, September 20: Japan Game Awards Management Office (c/o CESA):TEL: +81-3-3591-1431; FAX：+81-3-3591-1422
e-mail：awards@cesa.or.jp