On what date did Pokémon: The First Movie premiere theatrically in Japan?

Pokémon: The First Movie premiered theatrically in Japan on July 18, 1998.

The Japanese film was titled Pocket Monsters the Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back and was distributed by Toho. It expanded the world of the television anime into a feature-length story focused on Mewtwo, cloning, identity, and the consequences of scientific experimentation.

The international release used the title Pokémon: The First Movie and commonly screened with the short Pikachu’s Vacation. The film’s different titles and release dates across countries make the Japanese premiere date easy to confuse with its later overseas openings.

The movie became a major theatrical event for the franchise and helped establish Pokémon as a successful film series. Its story was later revisited in the computer-animated remake Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution.