[3] Prior to Red and Green's release, Ishihara initiated the development of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Ishihara had been an avid player of Niantic's Ingress title, and he endorsed the planned game—which secured support from Iwata.
[17] During an interview with Bloomberg, Ishihara noted that he was initially skeptical on the Nintendo Switch's success, doubting the prospects of a video game console with the abundance of smartphones.
Later, in 2019, Ishihara announced the title Pokémon Sleep slated for a 2020 release, which he stated was to make "players to look forward to waking up every morning".
[19] In April 2023, Ishihara stepped down as CEO of Creatures Inc., a position he held for decades while still working at The Pokémon Company as its president.