So who's going to Japan for the event?

Where can I find information about the event?

Probably a trap for spoofers lol. Who would have time and money to be like "oh a lapras event! I'm gonna book a flight to Japan real quick."

They should've gave notice beforehand at least if they really wanted to bring up tourism.

He who dares wins.

Though it appears a noble gesture on behalf of Niantic, it is a double edged sword. Not everyone will see this act of charity as "charity", but rather another segregation of it's player base. Why certain people were allowed to essentially catch stuff for free that other players have dumped hundreds of dollars into (in the form of eggs, incubators, gasoline to get to places, and sheer manual labor of walking hundreds of km without finding near what is being spawned now) is just not going to sit well with a vast majority of the player base. I'm not saying the event is bad, it's got good intentions behind it. But with a player base this high, and dwindling rapidly, the last thing they need to do is alienate customers. It's a form of prejudice based soley on one's geographic location. The reason doesn't matter. I know a lot of people who are quitting the game based on this consistently played out logic. And if it wasn't just a fun way to kill time for me I'd be quitting too, but it's just not that big a deal to me personally.

I think a company like Nianitic, who is a big fish in the app market - and whose future is volatile to say the least, is making and awfully pretentious move by trying to play social activist to a tsunami-affected part of the world. I know it means to serve that location with support, but as a company it's alienating (and likely infuriating) a larger demographic. And really, if they keep upsetting their customers they will continue to see them decline.

I love this game. I don't care about a Lapras event in Japan. If Niantic is so obtuse to think they will turn things around for that region of the world by releasing digital content, then fine - whatever. But if it alienates a large part of the player base to the point of quitting because they feel they can't compete then it affects all of us. When and if Pokemon Go becomes a punchline to a "remember when" joke then we won't have much of a game.

I agree with the general consensus that the game's popularity superseded Niantic's ability to capitalize on that success (otherwise we'd still see lured pokestops everywhere). It's a world class game governed by an amateur approach and mindset. The result is a game whose losing players rapidly. Niantic is certainly trying, but it just seems the wrong people are making decisions there. It's as if the Golden Goose is being starved to death. They have it, they just don't know what to do with it.

In short, though I think running an event in Japan to bring tourists to a region simply begs the question, "there has got to be a way to raise awareness without shoooting your app in the foot!". And from a business standpoint it seems suicidal to announce to the world that a small region of the globe will be able to catch what millions of people have put thousands of hours in to find (many still unsuccessfully). There are plenty of ways to bring awareness to the country without losing more loyal players in the process.

wow!! There must be many places in the world that could do with a boost to tourism, for whatever reason. Doesn't seem fair to prioritise one over any other. I hope this is a trap.