Pokemon Go Released in Japan: 18m New Residents Discovered

Following the Japanese release today of Pokemon Go, the population of Japan has been discovered to be approximately eighteen million higher than previously thought. Millions of people who left their homes for the first time today in order to play the game had not been included in previous censuses because they never answered the door.

Officials have been caught off guard by the existence of all these extra people. "This has come as a real surprise," said Population Minister Hitoga Daisuki. "We haven't seen anything like this since the extra four million brought out of their homes by the inception of AKB48."

Crowds waiting in Ginza for Pokemon Go to launch 

Some of these residents are finding it difficult to adjust to the world which they have come out into. "I just went through this big hole in my wall, and suddenly there was all this other stuff," said Hikiko Mori, 27, from Saitama. "It looks like the world out of The Matrix, but with more agents."

The government is hopeful that luring more unknown residents out of hiding will boost Japan's population further. There are already plans to create a new boy band, a chain of bakeries offering free cupcakes to anyone without a MyNumber, and an interactive app provisionally called Hello Kitty Vs. Game of Thrones Go.