An unusual incident in history prompted the Japanese government to hold an emergency meeting, while also providing scientists with the opportunity to investigate one of the strangest medical phenomena on the planet. For many years, its effects remained unexplained.
25 years ago, at exactly 6:51 PM on December 16, 1997, hundreds of children across Japan experienced seizures. A total of 685 children, including 310 boys and 375 girls, were transported to hospitals by ambulance.
In just two days, 12,000 children reported symptoms of illness. But behind this strange phenomenon affecting a multitude of children lay an unexpected culprit: an episode of the animated series Pokémon.
The episode titled Dennō Senshi Porygon (Electric Soldier Porygon), is the 38th episode from the first season of Pokémon, which created a medical mystery at that time.
About 20 minutes into the broadcast, an explosion occurred in the episode illustrated with an animation technique called “paka paka,” emitting alternating red and blue flashing lights at a frequency of 12Hz for six seconds. Immediately, hundreds of children experienced seizures triggered by light sensitivity, also known as photosensitive epilepsy. The issue here is that only a portion, not all, of the hospitalized cases were affected.
This phenomenon was referred to by the Japanese media as “Pokémon Shock”.
Takuya Sato, a 10-year-old, said: “At the end of the show, there was an explosion and I had to close my eyes because of the enormous yellow light, like a camera flash.” A 15-year-old girl from Nagoya recounted: “When I saw the flashing green and red lights on the screen, I felt my body tense up. I can’t remember what happened after that.”
This phenomenon, known as “Pokémon Shock”, became a sensational news topic at the time, capturing global attention. The producers of the animated series were interrogated by the police, while the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare held an emergency meeting. Nintendo’s stock, the company behind the Pokémon games, dropped by 3.2%.
For medical experts, the figure of 12,000 children needing medical treatment was insignificant since the episode attracted around 4.6 million families with children watching. Approximately one in every 5,000 people has photosensitive epilepsy, a rate of 0.02%. However, the number of children reporting symptoms seemed to exceed all ratios.
This mystery persisted for four years until it attracted the attention of Benjamin Radford, a researcher in the United States, who stated: “The investigation was stalled, and the mystery gradually faded without explanation. I wanted to see if I could solve the case.”
Benjamin Radford, along with another individual, began examining the timeline of events and discovered an important detail. “What everyone missed was that it didn’t just happen overnight; it occurred over several days, and the spread happened in schools and through mass media.”
Radford and Bartholomew found that the majority of the affected children were already ill, having heard about the harmful effects of the episode.
Although the episode aired on December 16 caused hundreds of children to experience symptoms due to photosensitive epilepsy, something else happened in subsequent cases.
The next day, in playgrounds and classrooms, in news broadcasts and at breakfast tables, everyone was talking about Pokémon Shock. At the moment they heard about this news, many children felt something was wrong, exhibiting symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and vomiting, which Radford described as having “more characteristics of mass sociogenic illness (MSI) than photosensitive epilepsy.”
MSI, also known as mass psychogenic disorder, has been recorded throughout history. Radford noted, “MSI is very complex and often misunderstood, but essentially, it’s when anxiety manifests as physical symptoms that can spread through social contact. It is often found in enclosed environments like factories and schools, where there is a strong social hierarchy.”
The symptoms were real, but their causes were often misunderstood. This condition is thought to be most similar to the reverse placebo effect, where people may make themselves ill just by a fleeting thought.
Pokémon Shock was not the only instance of a broadcast triggering an outbreak of MSI. In May 2006, Padre António Vieira High School in Lisbon reported 22 cases of an unidentified virus spreading rapidly within the school’s hallways.
Students complained of difficulty breathing, rashes, dizziness, and fainting. The school was closed as news of the virus spread. Shortly after, it affected over 300 students in 15 schools across Portugal, many of which had to shut down.
Fear syndrome can also be easily spread
Strangely, doctors found no evidence of a virus causing the symptoms. Dr. Mario Almeida stated, “I don’t know of any disease that is selective enough to only attack students.”
The truth began to unfold. It was discovered that many children had watched a popular teen movie that mentioned a terrible disease attacking a school. At that time, many students were feeling stressed as they faced exams with the school year coming to an end. The movie’s storyline seemed to have a more profound impact on young audiences than anticipated.
