{"id":27712,"date":"2024-02-27T11:27:04","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T02:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=27712"},"modified":"2024-02-27T11:27:06","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T02:27:06","slug":"20240227-27712","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20240227-27712\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon creator stalked and ambushed for autographs by scalpers\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Japanese illustrator and <strong>Pok\u00e9mon<\/strong> creator Naoki Saito has reported on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account that he has experienced being followed by car, surrounded and ambushed on several occasions by individuals seeking to profit off his signature.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1800\" height=\"801\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240227-27712-001.jpg\" alt=\"Pok\u00e9mon Trading Card Game designs by Naoki Saito\" class=\"wp-image-27716\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240227-27712-001.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240227-27712-001-380x169.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240227-27712-001-768x342.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240227-27712-001-1536x684.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240227-27712-001-600x267.jpg 600w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Pok\u00e9mon Trading Card Game designs by Naoki Saito<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Naoki Saito is an illustrator known for his character designs for Pok\u00e9mon Sun and Moon. He is also the author of numerous illustrations for the Pok\u00e9mon Trading Card Game. Among the cards he has worked on, \u201cLillie (Extra Battle Day)\u201d and \u201cGanba Lillie\u201d are among the most expensive cards in the market due to their rarity, and there have been incidents of copies signed by Saito being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inside-games.jp\/article\/2022\/11\/14\/141805.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">resold for astronomical prices<\/a> (exceeding $100k USD), causing controversy and meeting with disapproval from Saito himself.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u3010\u30b5\u30a4\u30f3\u306b\u3064\u3044\u3066\u306e\u304a\u77e5\u3089\u305b\u3011<br>\u3053\u308c\u307e\u3067\u30b5\u30a4\u30f3\u3092\u6c42\u3081\u3089\u308c\u305f\u969b\u3001\u50d5\u3068\u3057\u3066\u3082\u304a\u58f0\u3092\u304b\u3051\u3066\u4e0b\u3055\u308b\u4e8b\u306f\u3068\u3066\u3082\u3046\u308c\u3057\u3044\u306e\u3067\u3001\u306a\u308b\u3079\u304f\u5168\u3066\u306b\u5fdc\u3058\u3066\u304a\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002\u2026<\/p>&mdash; \u3055\u3044\u3068\u3046 \u306a\u304a\u304d\ud83c\udf40 (@_NaokiSaito) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_NaokiSaito\/status\/1761549443076444488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 25, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, Saito took to X to speak out about the harassment he has been experiencing. He starts by mentioning that he has always been happy to give out autographs to fans and has done his best to respond to every request. However, Saito reveals that he has been victim of organized stalking and ambushes on several occasions over the past year. These incidents would mostly occur at the end of events that he attended, and included being followed by car and being surrounded by 5 to 6 people at once. Individuals would also attempt to inquire about his schedule under false names. Saito says that the acts have been escalating in a way that makes him feel endangered, and that he will no longer be giving autographs personally until the situation is resolved.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u6628\u65e5\u3001\u3055\u3044\u3068\u3046\u306a\u304a\u304d\u3055\u3093\u304c\u51fa\u6f14\u3059\u308b\u30a4\u30d9\u30f3\u30c8\u306b\u53c2\u52a0\u3055\u305b\u3066\u3044\u305f\u3060\u304d\u3001\u305d\u306e\u5f8c\u3001\u6253\u3061\u4e0a\u3052\u4f1a\u5834\u306b\u8eca\u3067\u79fb\u52d5\u3057\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002<br>\u6211\u3005\u304c\u4f1a\u5834\u3092\u51fa\u308b\u3068\u4e0d\u5be9\u306a3\u4eba\u7d44\u306e\u5916\u56fd\u7c4d\u3089\u3057\u3044\u7537\u304c\u51fa\u5f85\u3061\u3092\u3057\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002\u5f7c\u3089\u306f\u614c\u3066\u305f\u69d8\u5b50\u3067\u767d\u3044\u8eca\u306b\u4e57\u308a\u8fbc\u307f\u3001\u8ffd\u8de1\u3057\u3066\u304d\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TWHmZCq8b0\">https:\/\/t.co\/TWHmZCq8b0<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u8349\u4e0b\u30b7\u30f3\u30e4\/\u4f5c\u5bb6\uff65\u7de8\u96c6\u8005 (@kusakashinya) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kusakashinya\/status\/1761665421479120921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 25, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Writer and editor Shinya Kusaka, who was with Saito during the most recent incident of \u201cautograph stalking,\u201d also <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kusakashinya\/status\/1761665421479120921\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spoke out about the incident<\/a>, mentioning how the perpetrators seemed skilled at tailing by car, even following the author into narrow alleys. He says that the behavior of people relentlessly trying to coerce Saito into giving autographs has caused him severe mental distress. Apparently, such individuals even resort to lying about \u201csick family members\u201d to get autographs, but always ask for several copies, which gives away the fact that their goal is to make a profit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Famous Pok\u00e9mon creator Naoki Saito has been victim of stalking, tailing and ambushes for the past year by people seeking to profit off of his signature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":27715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17,70],"class_list":["post-27712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news","tag-pokemon-series"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pok\u00e9mon creator stalked and ambushed for autographs by scalpers\u00a0 - 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