Pokémon TCG from Japan

Are Japanese Pokémon cards different from English ones?

Japanese Pokémon cards are a separate print run from the English cards, not a translation of the same product. The Japanese game is published by The Pokémon Company in Japan and every set is released there first; the English sets that follow months later combine and reshuffle cards from several Japanese releases, so the set names, set sizes and card numbers do not line up one to one. Japan also gets products that never leave the country: Pokémon Center Japan exclusives, promo cards handed out at Japanese events and in Japanese magazines, and gym promo packs. The card itself is the same 63 x 88 mm size, so Japanese cards fit standard sleeves and binders. Two things to check before you buy for play rather than collecting: Japanese-language cards are not legal in Play! Pokémon events in North America, and the rarity code printed in the corner follows the Japanese system of letter codes such as SR, SAR and UR rather than the English star symbols.

What do the rarity codes on Japanese Pokémon cards mean?

Japanese cards print a two- or three-letter rarity code in the bottom corner instead of the star and circle symbols used on English cards, and Japanese sellers quote that code in the listing title. Since VSTAR Universe (December 2022) the codes are the ones below; older sets used a smaller set of codes, so a card listed as SR from an older set is not directly comparable to a modern SAR.

Where do Japanese Pokémon cards come from on the secondhand market?

The bulk of Japanese Pokémon stock abroad is sourced from three channels, and each one carries a different kind of product. Sealed current boxes come from Japanese retail and from resellers on Rakuten and Amazon Japan; singles, older sealed boxes and collection lots come from Mercari and Yahoo Auctions; and shop-graded singles come from Suruga-ya. The single most useful listing word is シュリンク付き, shrink-wrap intact, because a Japanese booster box whose shrink has been removed is treated as potentially searched and is priced and described differently by honest sellers.

What do 美品, 白かけ and PSA10 mean on a Japanese card listing?

Japanese card sellers describe condition with a fixed vocabulary that sits alongside the marketplace's own condition grade, and the vocabulary is where the detail lives. 美品 means the seller considers the card clean, 白かけ points to whitening on the edges or back, and a PSA or ARS grade means the card has been slabbed by a grading company and the number on the label is the whole description. Ask for a picture of the back and the edges before ordering anything above base rarity.

• 美品 — fine condition in the seller's judgement; still check the photos
• 白かけ / 白欠け — whitening on the edges or corners, the most common flaw on Japanese cards
• 傷あり / 凹みあり — scratched / dented
• PSA10 / PSA9 / ARS10 — graded and slabbed; ARS is the Japanese domestic grading company
• スリーブ付き / ローダー付き — shipped in a sleeve / in a toploader
• サーチ済み — packs that have been searched; avoid loose packs described this way
• 未開封 / シュリンク付き — sealed / shrink-wrap intact

What does it cost to have a proxy buy Pokémon cards in Japan?

The cost has two parts paid at two different times, and for cards the second part is unusually small because the goods are light. When you order, you pay the item price in yen, OneMall's service fee, which is shown before you confirm, and the seller's domestic shipping if the listing charges it. When the cards arrive at our Japan warehouse you choose an international shipping method and pay that separately. Singles from several sellers can be consolidated into one parcel, which is how most card buyers use a proxy: order ten listings, ship once. A sealed booster box is the point where volume starts to matter, and a carton of boxes is priced on size rather than weight. Any import duty is charged by your own country on arrival.

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How do I search Mercari for Pokémon cards the way Japanese sellers list them?

Japanese sellers write ポケカ, the everyday abbreviation of ポケモンカード, and then the card name in Japanese katakana or the rarity code, so an English search for "Pikachu SAR" misses most of the listings that exist. The most efficient searches combine the Japanese Pokémon name with the rarity code, or the set's product code with 未開封. OneMall searches Mercari and Yahoo Auctions in English, but knowing these words lets you hunt one specific card.

• ポケカ / ポケモンカード — the game, abbreviated and in full
• ピカチュウ SAR / リザードン SR — Pokémon name in katakana plus rarity code
• BOX 未開封 シュリンク付き — sealed box with shrink intact
• プロモ / ポケセン限定 — promo card / Pokémon Center exclusive
• まとめ売り / 引退品 — bulk lot / a collector selling out
• PSA10 — graded cards, usually listed with the grade first