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

Apple CEO Tim Cook Meets Pikachu During Japan Visit

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

airpods pro 3 design

'AirPods Ultra' Rumored to Feature a Major Upgrade Over AirPods Pro

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:40 am PDT by
In a social media post this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that Apple is planning to release new AirPods with cameras "for Siri." Last month, Gurman said these AirPods will likely be priced above the current AirPods Pro 3, which Apple sells for $249. As a result, he said Apple is likely considering using "AirPods Ultra" branding for the camera-equipped AirPods. "AirPods Ultra"...
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro to Launch in September With These 10 New Features

Tuesday April 28, 2026 9:35 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

Why You Might Want to Wait to Buy a MacBook Pro

Friday May 1, 2026 3:43 pm PDT by
Apple refreshed the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max models in March 2026, but depending on your needs and interests, you might want to skip this generation because there's something better in the works. The M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models have faster chips, but the same design that Apple has used since 2021. An updated design with new display technology and faster ...

Top Rated Comments

8 months ago
This is the type of hard hitting news we expect.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThomasJL Avatar
8 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
8 months ago
I'm sorry you had to go through that, Pikachu.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
8 months ago
I don't think that's the real Pikachu. Probably a lookalike.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
digimc Avatar
8 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)
8 months ago
Is there an Apple-Nintendo collab coming?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)