Apple CEO Tim Cook Meets Pikachu During Japan Visit - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple CEO Tim Cook Meets Pikachu During Japan Visit

by

Apple CEO Tim Cook is in Japan this week to celebrate the reopening of Apple Ginza in Tokyo on Friday.

apple ceo tim cook pikachu
So far, Cook has met with Japanese boy band Number_i, and hugged Pokemon character Pikachu. Cook also said that he connected with App Store developers, and visited Bandai Namco to play iOS game Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra.


Apple Ginza was Apple's first retail store location outside of the United States when it opened in 2003. The flagship store included a 27-foot Genius Bar, an 84-seat theater, and an internet cafe for customers to visit.

The Sayegusa Building where Apple Ginza was located needed to be updated, so in 2022, Apple moved the store to a temporary location. Apple is now ready to reopen Apple Ginza, and the new store has received a number of upgrades.

There is an Apple Pickup station for customers to pick up online orders, a Genius Bar, a seating area for one-on-one Apple Vision Pro demos, and a space for Today at Apple sessions.

Customers in Japan can attend the store opening on Friday, September 26 at 10:00 a.m. local time, and Cook will be in attendance. The store will be selling special-edition Apple Gift Cards for the reopening, and Apple also shared special wallpaper designed for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

Friday July 17, 2026 10:39 am PDT by
It is now mid-July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are now just two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, ...
Read Full Article • 58 comments
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max Feature

'Apple Upgrade' Program Reportedly Launching Next Week

Tuesday July 21, 2026 8:30 am PDT by
Apple and Klarna are partnering on a new "Apple Upgrade" leasing program set to launch in the U.S. on Tuesday, July 28, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The program will allow you to finance most iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models, with a 24-month term for iPhones and Apple Watches and a 36-month term for iPads and Macs. Customers will be able to pay off the device early during...
Read Full Article • 197 comments
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

Tuesday July 21, 2026 6:22 am PDT by
It is now mid-July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are now just two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, ...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

S
Simmias
11 months ago
This is the type of hard hitting news we expect.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThomasJL Avatar
ThomasJL
11 months ago
That is a coincidence since both Pikachu and USB 2.0 are over 25 years old. Pikachu was released in the first half of 1998. USB 2.0 was released in the first half of 2000. So both were released over a quarter century ago. Tim Cook still uses the quarter-century old USB 2.0 technology on the newly released 2025 iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. Read the following thread for more information on how much Cook is disrespecting and cheating customers by doing that:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/will-iphone-14-be-usb-2-0-probably-since-cook-is-mediocre.2341197/
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TracesOfArsenic Avatar
TracesOfArsenic
11 months ago
I'm sorry you had to go through that, Pikachu.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
subjonas
11 months ago
I don't think that's the real Pikachu. Probably a lookalike.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
digimc Avatar
digimc
11 months ago

That is a coincidence since both Pikachu and USB 2.0 are over 25 years old. Pikachu was released in the first half of 1998. USB 2.0 was released in the first half of 2000. So both were released over a quarter century ago. Tim Cook still uses the quarter-century old USB 2.0 technology on the newly released 2025 iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. Read the following thread for more information on how much Cook is disrespecting and cheating customers by doing that:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/will-iphone-14-be-usb-2-0-probably-since-cook-is-mediocre.2341197/


Things took a dark turn there.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
mozumder
11 months ago
Is there an Apple-Nintendo collab coming?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments