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Niantic delists Holocaust Museum and Hiroshima memorial from Pokemon Go

Hiroshima's memorial was delisted just hours before a ceremony was scheduled to be held.

David Craddock

August 8, 2016 4:14 PM

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Both the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and Hiroshima, Japan's memorial to the more than 140,000 victims of the atomic bomb dropping during WWII, have been delisted from Pokemon Go.

Niantic worked with both sites to fill their requests that creatures no longer appear, and that they no longer show up on players' radars as gyms and PokeStops.

According to the Associated Press, delisting locations from the game took place in two phases. Hiroshima's memorial was removed as a supply stop and gym on Thursday, but pocket monsters continued to appear. On 1:56 am Saturday, approximately six hours before the planned ceremony to honor the deceased, Niantic removed the ability for Pokemon to pop up.

"We were so relieved," said Tatsuya Sumida, a city official. "We were worried if those 'Pokemon' were really going to go away in time. We consider the park a sacred place where we pray for the victims of the atomic bombings."

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.