Pokémon

Earlier this year, Growlithe was declared the Official Ambassadorial Pokémon for Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture. The Ambassador Pokémon promotion is sponsored by Pokémon Local Acts, a program designed to drive tourism by ‘highlighting well-known and not-so-well-known charms’ of various localities in Japan through events and activities. Many of the country’s prefectures now have official Pokémon tourist ambassadors – for example, Chansey for Fukushima, Ampharos for Nagasaki, and Slowpoke for Kagawa. Growlithe is one of the latest Pokémon to be given ambassador status – but why was it chosen to represent Okinawa?

Before we delve into that, let’s see what the Pokédex has to say about Growlithe. It is a loyal and friendly Pokémon that has a very long history with humans – its bones have even been found in ancient Stone Age ruins. It will fearlessly defend its Trainer and territory from harm, even against larger, stronger enemies. It has an excellent sense of smell, and if it detects an unknown scent in its territory, it growls to flush out the intruder. Growlithe never forgets a scent and will fiercely bark at, bite, and chase away any perceived threat. Although it prefers using its strong teeth and jaws in battle, it can also unleash powerful Fire attacks.

Growlithe has gained many fans over the years thanks to being a cute, hardworking little pup. Throughout the franchise, it is commonly seen as a pet and police dog, which nicely ties this Pokémon to more familiar aspects of society in the Pokémon world. But Growlithe isn’t just a fire-themed dog. Those mane-like tufts of fur, tiger-like stripes, and its undefined breed all hint at a more interesting inspiration…

Growlithe was selected to be Okinawa Prefecture’s Ambassadorial Pokémon due to its resemblance to the traditional Ryukyuan shisa, a creature from local Okinawan mythology. Shisa are often depicted as statues, which are believed to invite good luck and protect people from evil spirits. These statues are sometimes placed in pairs on rooftops or flanking the gates of people’s houses, not unlike the gargoyles that adorn much of European architecture.

Although they are sometimes called ‘guardian dogs’, shisa more closely resemble a cross between a lion and a dog. In fact, they originate from Chinese ‘guardian lion’ statues. Asiatic lions are not native to China (or Japan), but the Chinese learned about these big cats (and their role as symbols of strength) via the economic and cultural exchange along the Silk Road. Lions quickly became entwined in Chinese mythology, and the statues later found their way to Japan. These statues were subtly altered over time, acquiring some dog-like characteristics. The guardian aspect of these statues may have inspired Growlithe’s protective nature, but there’s nothing in Japanese or Chinese legend (at least that I could find) that connects shisa statues with the element of fire, so Growlithe’s Fire-type is presumably an original concept that was created for Pokémon.

From the Edo period onward, other animals, such as foxes, boars, and tigers, were also turned into Japanese guardian statues. Parts of these species were likely used in Growlithe’s design – that may be why it possesses an orange coat with black tiger stripes, for instance, and a bushy fox tail.

Unsurprisingly, all of this went completely over the heads of non-Japanese gamers when Pokémon was first released – they (and I) simply assumed that Growlithe was a basic dog Pokémon, and that was that. So, over two decades later, when designing regional variants of classic Pokémon for Pokémon Legends: Arceus, set hundreds of years in the past in a distant land, it seems the designers took the opportunity to make the connection more obvious.

This is Hisuian Growlithe, a variant of regular Growlithe that lives in the Hisui region (the ancient version of Sinnoh). It is a deeper orange and has longer, more voluminous fur. It is believed to have transformed into this regional variant due to increased volcanic activity in its habitat, which has caused igneous rock components to accumulate in its fur. This extra fur evokes the ‘curled fur’ style that shisa statues are typically depicted with. Those rocky components have also made Hisuian Growlithe part-Rock – a further reference to the statues. These Pokémon are highly vigilant and tend to be seen watching over their territory in pairs, which is similar to how shisa statues are built – you usually need two, one for each side of a door or gate.

When designing Hisuian Growlithe, the game artists may also have borrowed a few elements from a related stone animal, the komainu. These statues share the same origin, function, and symbolic meaning as the shisa, but they traditionally guard the entrance or gates of Japanese shrines and temples. Komainu statues sometimes have short horns, which may be why Hisuian Growlithe has one. The horn on this Pokémon’s head is made of rock, but it breaks easily (possibly a reference to the fact that very few old statues still retain their horns to this day), so Hisuian Growlithe only uses it when it will have the greatest effect.

Next time, we’ll be looking at Growlithe’s evolved form, Arcanine, along with its Hisuian form.