"Catch Them All" Used to Promote Immigrant Arrests with Pokémon; Trump Ignores Strong Japanese Protest

[Financial News] The Japanese government has formally expressed strong concern through diplomatic channels over the Trump administration's unauthorized use of Japanese anime and game content.
The move appears to reflect the view that it could no longer overlook the indiscriminate use of popular Japanese franchises such as Pokémon and Naruto in U.S. policy promotion, especially for crackdowns on undocumented immigrants and the justification of war, without the creators' permission.
According to Japanese media reports, including Mainichi Shimbun, on the 5th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan conveyed the official position to the United States twice, in April and June this year, through the U.S. Embassy in Japan, asking it to "respect the intellectual property rights of Japanese content."
There have been a series of cases in which the Trump administration used Japanese content without permission. In September last year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a video on its official X account promoting immigration enforcement and used footage from the anime "Pokémon" and its signature line, "Gotta catch 'em all," without authorization. The video sparked controversy because it included scenes of the main character Satoshi, known in Korea as Jiu, throwing a Monster Ball, as well as images of detained immigrants edited in the style of Pokémon Trading Card Game (Pokémon TCG) cards.
In response, Pokémon Company International officially distanced itself, saying, "We did not authorize the production of the video or the use of our intellectual property."
In March this year, a video titled "JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY" was posted on The White House's official X account. The video, which showed U.S. strikes on Iran, used unauthorized edited images of Yugi Muto from "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and characters from "Dragon Ball Z." It also included numerous scenes from Hollywood films such as Iron Man and Top Gun, but Japanese production companies immediately pushed back.
The "Yu-Gi-Oh!" side said, "Anime footage was used on The White House's official account without the rights holder's permission," and formally expressed regret.

In April, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan first conveyed its concerns to the United States, saying that "even public institutions need the creators' and rights holders' permission when using intellectual property." It also strongly urged the U.S. to consider not only copyright infringement but also the possibility of damaging the original image of the content.
However, the U.S. government appears to have paid little attention to those concerns. In June, President Trump posted an AI-generated video on his Truth Social account that combined his face with the protagonist of the popular anime "Naruto," showing him using a shadow clone technique. The Japanese government again raised concerns with the United States that same month, but the major posts in question remain online and have not been deleted.
Quoting a Japanese government official, Mainichi Shimbun indirectly criticized the Trump administration's stance, saying that "the United States has long demanded strong protection of intellectual property rights from other countries, but now regime promotion is being prioritized."
The Trump administration has repeatedly drawn backlash from original creators by indiscriminately using films, anime, and AI-generated images to promote its policies. Even within the United States, criticism is growing over the practice of prioritizing regime promotion over intellectual property protection, with local artists such as Katy Perry strongly condemning the unauthorized use of their music in government promotional videos.


[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter