Why Pikachu is making Hong Kong angry

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Pikachu was originally referred to in Hong Kong as Beikaciu, which sounds phonetically close to its name in Japanese

Japanese game-maker Nintendo’s move to use the Mandarin Chinese name for its hugely-popular Pokemon characters in the Hong Kong version of the game has proved controversial. The BBC looks at why.

1. What’s in a name – Beikaciu or Pikaqiu?

Nintendo made the announcement earlier this year and and it will apply to more than 100 Pokemon characters, including the hugely beloved Pikachu.

For decades, Pikachu was known in Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong as Bei-Ka-Chu, which sounds phonetically close to its name in Japanese.

Now, as a result of the renaming, the yellow cartoon rodent with magic powers has officially become, in Cantonese, Pei-Ka-Yao, which sounds nothing like the original name.

2. It’s about identity

At a time when tensions over Beijing’s growing influence are running high and just months after violent clashes between “localist” groups and police, this has not gone down well.

More than 6,000 people signed a petition in March asking Nintendo to reverse its decision. Then on Monday dozens of people protested, calling for the Cantonese name to be reinstated.

The small but vocal protest taps into growing fears that in Hong Kong, Cantonese -along with local culture and tradition – is being supplanted by Mandarin, says the BBC’s Juliana Liu in Hong Kong.

3. It’s about language

Last year, the city’s Education Bureau caused an uproar when it suggested that Cantonese was not an official language, our correspondent reports.

Hong Kong residents, supported by many linguists, believe Cantonese is a proper language, on a par with Mandarin. But in mainland China itself, the dizzyingly diverse range of regional forms of speech are known only as dialects, not languages in their own right.

Earlier in February, Hong Kong officials received more than 10,000 complaints in three days after a TV programme began using subtitles in mainland Chinese characters instead of Hong Kong’s traditional script.

4. It’s about the ‘collective memory of a generation’

Hong Kong activist group Civic Passion organised Monday’s demonstration.

“Pikachu has been in Hong Kong for more than 20 years,” said Sing Leung, one of those who took part.

“It is not simply a game or comic book, it is the collective memory of a generation.”

“It was a good decision for them to launch a Chinese version of the game, but it has not respected the culture and language of specific places.”

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