Kitakami
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The land of Kitakami (Japanese: キタカミの里 Kitakami countryside), known simply as Kitakami, is a location featured in The Teal Mask expansion for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It is a different region to Paldea, but it is unclear whether it is itself a region or is part of a larger region.
Etymology and design concept
Etymology
Kitakami may be named after areas named "Kitakami" (北上) in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan, which includes Kitakami Mountains (北上山地), Kitakami River Basin (北上盆地), Kitakami River (北上川), and Kitakami City (北上市). The name "Kitakami" is formed from the characters 北 kita (north) and 上 kami (up).
Design concept
- Main article: Pokémon world in relation to the real world → Kitakami
Kitakami may be inspired by the Iwate, Akita, and Aomori in the Tōhoku region, particularly the Towada-Hachimantai National Park and neighboring areas on the borders of the three prefectures. The aforementioned region is particularly well known for its rural atmosphere as well as its mountains and rice paddles.
History
Undated history
- "Hundreds of years ago"
- A male Ursaluna crossed the sea and drifted ashore in Kitakami's Timeless Woods from Hisui, surviving in this place led it to gain a unique appearance and special powers, as time passed, it turned into a myth around Kitakami and was known as the Bloodmoon Beast.
- A man and an ogre named Ogerpon, one day traveled to the land of Kitakami, carrying with them some gems from a foreign land, but due to their uncommon appearance, they weren't allowed to get any closer to the village, forcing the two to sadly move to a nearby mountain but they were still happy to have each other, living together for sometime in a den inside the mountain.
- The village's mask-maker pitied the pair though, so using the man's crystals, he crafted four brilliant, adorned masks for them, which would be later named the Wellspring, Hearthflame, Cornerstone and Teal Masks, allowing them to blend in with the other villagers during their Festival of Masks, making the duo very well known around the land thanks to their new, shiny masks.
- As time passed, rumors about the duo and their masks began spreading further, even to distant lands, eventually they got to the ears of an old couple, who requested their Pokémon, Pecharunt, to get it for them, it then recruited Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti as its retainers and the four made their way to Kitakami. They went into the duo's home while both were away, but the man found about it and engaged into a battle with them, being left heavily injured but was strong enough to protect at least one of the masks, while the other three were taken. Once Ogerpon returned to its home, it found it in ruins and its friend missing, with the Teal Mask left on the floor. It then donned its mask on and ran down into the village looking for its friend, only to find the four greedy Pokémon gloating over the stolen masks. It madly attacked them and after a battle, the three are slayed while the leader, Pecharunt managed to survive by hiding within its shell while being sent flying deep into the forest. The villagers around were scared of the ogre after seeing what it had done and assumed it was an evil ogre, while the three deceased Pokémon were heroes who sacrificed themselves for them. Ogerpon is left very wounded, but weakly returns to its home very saddened.
- After witnessing the battle between the ogre and the greedy Pokémon, the villagers, assuming the three Pokémon were heroes and the ogre was a villain, buried the trio with care and built a monument atop it. They named the deceased trio the Loyal Three and the park they were buried in, the Loyal Three Park, which would be later renamed as the Loyalty Plaza. Being the only one aware of what truly happened, the mask-maker tried telling everyone about what truly happened, but they didn't take him seriously, considering him a heretic, forcing him to keep his story within his family, only passing it down to his descendants.
- Over the years as the mask-maker passed down Ogerpon's true story to his descendants, soon the story was passed down to Yukito by his father.
Contemporary history
The player is taken to Kitakami on a school trip held by the sister schools, Naranja AcademyS/Uva AcademyV and Blueberry Academy, along with the player, three unnamed students of Naranja AcademyS/Uva AcademyV and two students of Blueberry Academy, Kieran and Carmine, also joined the school trip.
Geography
Kitakami is a landlocked region that is mostly mountainous, as a large mountain comprises most of the region, though some rivers are present at the top of the mountain and around it on the east side, some even leading outside of the region. There is a town at the base of the mountain, being the only town in Kitakami.
Kitakami is described as being far away from Paldea, where the player character lives, to the degree of a plane being required to travel there.
Demographics
Most of the people there are naturally born citizens there, like Ogerpon's mask-maker, though rarely do they see tourists. Apart from farming, a significant amount of income comes from tourism. Most of the residents of Kitakami do not appreciate this (with both Trainers and main characters referring to those not from Kitakami as "outsiders"). Though following the events of The Teal Mask, many warm up to them.
Notable locations
Some notable locations around Kitakami include:
- Kitakami Road, a large road leading to Mossui Town.
- Mossui Town, the only place with a permanent population.
- Community Center, a place where people gather around to chat.
- Peachy's, a shop which sells items and knitted clothing and where the Loyal Three's master slumbers.
- Carmine and Kieran's house, where the two siblings live along with their grandparents, Yukito and Hideko.
- Apple Hills, a large apple orchard.
- Reveler's Road, a small road between Mossui Town and the Kitakami Hall.
- Kitakami Hall, where Ogerpon's masks were stored, as well as where the citizen have their Festival of Masks.
- Mossfell Confluence, a place where a large lake is located at.
- Fellhorn Gorge, a large gorge probably formed by the Oni Mountain's lost horn.
- Loyalty Plaza, the small park which houses the Loyal Three Monument and resting place.
- Infernal Pass, the area surrounding Oni Mountain.
- Oni Mountain, the large oni's head-shaped mountain in the center of the land.
- Dreaded Den, the small cave which Ogerpon is said to live in.
- Oni's Maw, the cave inside Oni Mountain's maw.
- Chilling Waterhead, a large cave in the west of Oni Mountain.
- Crystal Pool, a faintly glowing lake which contains large crystals that emit energy of the same wavelength as Terastal energy.
- Wistful Fields, a large field.
- Paradise Barrens, a wasteland.
- Kitakami Wilds, a section of wilderness with two lakes connected by rivers.
- Timeless Woods, a mysterious forest, home to rare Pokémon, including a unique one known as the Bloodmoon Beast.
- Three signboards that tell a false version of the tale of Ogerpon and the Loyal Three; the first in Loyalty Plaza, the second in Kitakami Hall and the third, at the base of Oni Mountain.
Settlements
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Population count. |
| Map | Name | Population |
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Mossui Town | |
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Kitakami Hall |
Trivia
- Flying to another location in Kitakami shows a different Flying Taxi on the loading screen, featuring Noctowl rather than Paldea's Squawkabilly and Blueberry Academy's Skarmory.
- Despite not being part of Paldea, any Pokémon caught there will be displayed as being met in the Paldea region in Pokémon HOME. The same is also true for the Terarium in Blueberry Academy, which is located in the Unova region.
Origin
To promote The Teal Mask, Pikachu and Ogerpon appeared at the 2023 Aomori Nebuta Matsuri as a float. The festival is the largest in the Tohoku region. The choice to showcase the Nebuta at the 2023 World Championships in Yokohama leans to the idea of the real life region of Tohoku region of Japan bearing a close resemblance to Kitakami.
- The culture of Kitakami resembles Japanese culture with the main characters of the story wearing clothing known as a jinbei (甚平). The architecture of the houses as seen in Kitakami also resemble typical Japanese houses.
- Food stalls (or Yatai (屋台)) can be seen around the shrine, of Shinto style. The path is flanked by stone lanterns similar to Ishidoro (石灯籠) in Japanese culture. Paper lanterns called Chōchin (提灯) can also be seen.
- The main characters of the story also participate in the Festival of Masks in Kitakami Hall, similar to matsuri (祭り) in Japan with its ties to spirtual animals, spirits, and/or deities according to ancient folklore. In the case of Kitakami, the summer festival celebrates "The Loyal Three" (Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti) the Pokémon that protected Kitakami from the "Ogre" (Ogerpon). This story is similar to the Japanese folk tale of Momotarō (桃太郎), where a boy born from a peach who grows up to vanquish some ogres.
- The name of the Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku Region means Rock (Iwa) Hand (Te). This comes a story where a deity names Mitsuishi (Three Rocks) vanquished an ogre called Rasetsu, who left an imprint of its hand on a large boulder on Mt. Nansho.[1] This bears resemblance to the Loyal Three vanquishing Ogerpon.
- The culture of one of the largest festivals in the Tohoku region, Aomori Nebuta Matsuri, is very similar to the themes explored in The Teal Mask (i.e. ogres appearing in many floats, which are typically depicted by humans by wearing a mask, reminiscent of Ogerpon). Alongside these cultural similarities, a real life nebuta float of Pikachu and Ogerpon appeared at the 2023 Aomori Nebuta festival.
- Ogerpon wears a mask, which could be a reference to Onikenbai (鬼剣舞) (lit. Ogre's Sword Dance), a traditional mask-wearing folk performance from the real-world Kitakami, Iwate. This city is also home to a large traditional mask museum called Oni no Yakata (lit. Ogre's Museum).[2]
- Ogerpon could be inspired by Menreiki (面霊気) which is a "mask essence" (or a Yokai (妖怪) born from a collection of masks). In the Tohoku region of Japan, it is considered a form of Tsukumogami (付喪神).
- The Loyal Three are revered through small statues wearing red bibs, similar to that of Ojizo-sama (お地蔵さま) or Kitsune (きつね) found across Japan. The colour red is believed to ward off evil spirits in Japanese culture.[3]
- Okidogi may be inspired by the large Japanese dog, Akita. The Akita dog also originates from Akita Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan, where Kitakami may be inspired from.
- Munkidori may be inspired by the Japanese macaque which originate from Aomori Prefecture of the Tohoku region.
- Fezandipiti may be inspired by the Japanese Green Pheasant, Kiji. The Kiji is also Iwate Prefecture's symbolic bird[4]. Fezandipiti's Japanese name is "Kichikigisu", which contains the word "kigisu". Kigisu is an archaic reading for pheasant.
- Dipplin, the evolution of Applin also features in Kitakami. Sweet apples are often served during summer festivals in Japan. With Aomori Prefecture being the largest producer of apples in Japan, it is well known for its apples around the world. As such, it is possible that Aomori's apples were the inspiration behind Dipplin. The trailer of the Teal Mask also heavily showcases an apple orchard, apple consumption, and a photoshoot with an apple cutout board.
- Poltchageist is inspired from Tsukumogami (付喪神) which is a spirit (or Yokai (妖怪)) that is born from every-day inanimate objects, which is typical concept in Japanese Shinto belief.
- Only found in Kitakami, Bloodmoon Ursaluna's Pokédex entry states that "It crossed the sea and drifted ashore in a new land." At the start of the quest, Perrin states that the Bloodmoon Ursaluna is native to her homeland, Sinnoh, when it was still called Hisui. If Sinnoh is an analog to Hokkaido, its nearest landmass is the Tohoku region of Japan. Furthermore, Ursaluna may be based on the Ussuri brown bear, a subspecies of the brown bear native to Hokkaido and its surrounding areas.
- Another Hisuian Pokémon, White-Striped Basculin, is also found in Kitakami.
- Kitakami features a large mountain which can be scaled. This could be inspired by Mt. Iwaki, which means "God's Home" (カムィ イワキ) in the local Ainu language. Mt. Iwaki is also known as the "Northern Fuji" due to its similar appearance. The reference to a deity and the north is similar to Kitakami, which means "northern god".
Name origin
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | キタカミの里 Kitakami no Sato | From 北 kita (north), 神 kami (deity) or 上 kami (upper), and possibly a reference to 北上 Kitakami |
| English, German, Brazilian Portuguese |
Kitakami | From its Japanese name |
| Spanish | Noroteo | From norte (north) and teo- (theo-: prefix for god) |
| French | Septentria | From septentrional (northern) |
| Italian | Nordivia | From nord (north) and divinità (divinity) |
| Korean | 북신의 고장 Buksin-ui Gojang | From 북신 buksin, Sino-Korean reading of Japanese 北神 kitakami (north deity) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 北上鄉 / 北上乡 Běishàng Xiāng | From 北 běi / bāk (north) and 上 shàng / séuhng (upper) |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 北上鄉 Bākséuhng Hēung |
References
| Regions in the Pokémon world | ||
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| Kitakami | ||||
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This article is part of Project Locations, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every location in the Pokémon world. |