(info source: https://gizmodo.com/singapore-roach-named-after-pokemon-nocticola-pheromosa-1850212824)
(img source: The Pokemon Company)

According the newspaper article, the newly discovered roach was first found in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve near the center of Singapore years earlier, then with intensive DNA checks against other types, the scientists concluded it was indeed a new species: Nocticola pheromosa.

I, as a Japanese, am kind of proud of learning this news. It implies a big power of Japanese manga/anime/game contents spreading across the world so widely that it affects bug scientists, too. It will stay forever as a name of …um.. cockroach. Yes, I’m proud.

BTW, I was collaborating with the Pokemon Company in Tokyo to conduct a research a few years ago when I was still in Japan. We used Pokemon Go and checked if it really improved the physical activities of the elders. The paper “Association between Daily Living Walking Speed and Lifestyle and Physiological Factors in Older, Female Pokemon GO Players” can be found here (the link).

I was forced by my boss to play Pokemon Go at the time but rapidly was hooked by myself. It was fun. I competed with my kids (two sons) for awhile, exchanging “rare pokemons.” I kept playing the game for a few years, then gradually faded away from it. I still remember my kids’ respect for their dad was at climax when I showed them the business cards I had earned at the headquarter of the Pokemon Company before the collaboration.

I’m not sure if I met Nocticola pheromosa there, though. Anyhow, thanks for using the name of a pokemon, bug scientists!

ポケモンゲットだぜ！日本のマンガアニメゲームという超絶ソフトパワーが、こんなとこにも炸裂します！いやあ誉れ高いわ。最近シンガポールで見つかった全く新しいタイプのゴキブリちゃんについた名前が、そのままポケモンでした！

地球のトップをひた走ってますからね、本当にこのドメインに関して我が国は！

でも、アニメ制作スタジオの労働環境がブラックを通り越してブラックマターみたいになってますけどね。大きな問題です。COOL JAPAN とかふざけたこと言ってる暇があったら、それを全て労働人材の給与上げる原資にすればよかったのに。