On July 7, the Noto Satoyama airport, in the Ishikawa prefecture in Japan, will open its doors again with a new name and design: The classic corridors and high ceilings of aseptic light colors will give way to a more theme park aesthetic because that day it will be called “Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport” and yes, it will be a Pokémon themed airport.
Pokémon airport. This intervention will change the aesthetics of the airport from beginning to end: The main atrium, entrance columns, boarding gates and commercial spaces will have elements of the video game and entertainment franchise that just turned 30 years old.
The star element will be a giant Pikachu balloon along with a replica of an aircraft inside the terminal, surrounded by representations of 111 species of Flying-type Pokémon. In the access columns there will be several Pokémon to generate an immersive experience from the beginning.
Why is it important. The change of face and name aims to reactivate the flow of visitors to a region that continues to recover from one of the worst natural disasters in its recent history, the earthquake of January 1, 2024. The idea is to use a transportation infrastructure with direct international traffic in a tourist attraction to regenerate the territory’s economy.
Pokémon It is the most successful franchise in the world and of all times, with an estimated brand rating in more than 100,000 million dollars and about estimated income of 147,000 million dollars. Associating a public infrastructure with such a successful asset represents an enormous visibility lever. All you have to do is take a look at the stratospheric numbers of the Pokémon GO Fest: in 2024 it generated 200 million dollars in Madrid, New York and Sendai, according to Niantic Labs.
Context. The 2024 earthquake affected the Noto peninsula (where the airport is) and had a magnitude of 7.6. The figures of the earthquake are horrifying: 228 deaths, 30,000 buildings destroyed or seriously damaged, transport routes unusable, ports unusable due to the rise of four meters in sea level, as Nippon account. The Japanese government estimated a damage cost of up to $17.6 billion. This transformation is not only a matter of marketing: it is also a matter of connectivity and marketing of the region.
Ishikawa’s reconstruction plan was structured in three phases. First came housing and restoring infrastructure, with the aim of returning normality and promoting the economic and cultural development of the prefecture. The Japanese Prime Minister himself explained in 2025 that this “creative” reconstruction of the Noto airport
at the February 2025 follow-up meeting, noted that the creative reconstruction of the Noto region should serve as a reference model for the recovery of rural areas throughout the country. In this framework, the themed airport fits as an emblematic project within the official reconstruction strategy. MDPIPrime Minister’s Office of Japan
How are they doing it. This reconstruction will be carried out through public-private collaboration between Ishikawa Prefecture and the Pokémon Foundation of Japan. The design of the venue will be based in the 111 Flying-type Pokémon as the thematic common thread, displayed at all contact points for those who step foot in the airport from the first moment: façade, columns, transit area, boarding gates and even the gastronomic proposal, with pancakes and themed drinks served on exclusive placemats.
The commercial area will offer limited edition products such as t-shirts, keychains and luggage accessories, so that the airport is more than just a connecting link to reach your destination: the airport itself will also offer its own unique experience, especially interesting for fans of the saga.
Yes, but. Converting a critical infrastructure such as an airport into a hybrid between airport and theme park has its B side: it depends enormously on the future of the brand and the cost of maintenance increases, as it requires investment in new content, aesthetic renewal or licenses.
And how warns Bloombergdepopulation and reduced tax revenues in Japan are making it difficult to maintain basic infrastructure and recover from disasters in rural areas. If the flow of visitors does not reach the profitability threshold, the initiative can become a heavy burden for a region that is already undergoing a very expensive reconstruction process.
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