Guides
Getting started
Buying Japanese cards from the U.S., how Japanese and English printings differ, sleeves, and finding a card's English name.
Getting startedWhere should a U.S. collector start with Japanese trading cards?Start by identifying the card, not by looking up a price. A Japanese card is pinned down by its game, language, product code, and card number, and a…Read the guide →Getting startedHow can you get Japanese trading cards shipped to the U.S.?Most U.S. buyers use a Japan-based store that ships worldwide or an official channel such as Premium Bandai's U.S. site for Bandai exclusives. Pokémon…Read the guide →Getting startedWhat actually changes between the Japanese and English version of a card?The two versions are separately produced products, and the pack size, price, and release date can all differ even when the card list is identical. In…Read the guide →Getting startedHow is a booster box different from a pack, a case, or a single?A booster pack is the smallest sealed unit, a booster box holds a set number of the same pack, and a case holds several boxes. A single is one…Read the guide →Getting startedShould you collect sealed product or single cards?If you want a particular card, buy the single. If the unopened box or pack is the thing you want to own, buy sealed. Graded cards sit in between as a…Read the guide →Getting startedWhich sleeves actually fit Japanese card games?The safest fit is the official sleeve made by the publisher of the game you play. Only some publishers print dimensions: the Pokémon Deck Shield…Read the guide →Getting startedWhich card games make cards for my favorite anime?Often more than one. Chainsaw Man, Re:ZERO, GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime all appear in the title lists of…Read the guide →Getting startedCan I find a Japanese card's English name on the official sites?For Yu-Gi-Oh!, the ONE PIECE Card Game, the GUNDAM CARD GAME, and Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World, yes. The Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! database page…Read the guide →Getting startedWhat is oripa, and what are you actually buying when you pay for one?Oripa (オリパ, short for "original pack") is a pack that a shop or website fills with single cards it chose itself and sells at a fixed price per draw…Read the guide →Getting startedCan you buy trading cards tax-free in Japan, and how does the refund work now?Yes, at shops registered for tax-free sales, but since November 1, 2026 you pay the full price including consumption tax and get the tax back only…Read the guide →Getting startedWhat rules do Japanese card shops post for customers, and what do visitors need to know?Very few, and almost none about behavior. The store pages of Hareruya2, Hareruya, Card Labo, Dragon Star, Card Rush, Hobby Station and the Pokémon…Read the guide →Getting startedDo you have to declare Japanese trading cards when you fly home, and will you pay duty?Declare them if they take you past your country's duty-free limit, and in the U.S. and Canada declare what you bring back either way. The limits are…Read the guide →Getting startedCan a visitor to Japan play in a card shop's play space or join a shop tournament, and what do they need?Open play at a shop's duel space has no stated requirement beyond your own cards, but entering a shop tournament usually means creating an app account…Read the guide →Getting startedCan you find trading cards at BOOKOFF, Mandarake and other secondhand chains in Japan?Yes, but mostly as places to browse. BOOKOFF lists trading cards (トレカ) as a product category and says stock differs by store, Mandarake runs card…Read the guide →Getting startedCan you buy new Japanese card packs at Yodobashi, Bic Camera or Don Quijote, and what limits apply?Sometimes, but the chains' own pages show it happening mostly through online lotteries for members, not as walk-in release-day sales. Joshin's web…Read the guide →Getting startedCan you buy Pokémon cards at Narita or Haneda before your flight home?Don't count on it. Narita has a Pokémon Store in Terminal 1, South Wing 4F, open 9:00 to 20:00 before security, but its official pages do not say it…Read the guide →Getting startedHow far ahead of English releases is Japan, title by title?Japan's lead runs from nothing to more than three years, depending on the game. English One Piece sets have come out between 13 days after and 1 day…Read the guide →Getting startedAre there official pull rates for Japanese packs?No. The official Japanese pages for Pokémon, ONE PIECE and Yu-Gi-Oh! sets give the cards per pack, the number of card types at each rarity and, for a…Read the guide →Getting startedWhat do the rarity codes on Japanese cards mean, and do they mean the same thing in every game?No. Each publisher defines its own rarity list, and the same letters point to different things: SR appears in the lists for Pokémon, One Piece…Read the guide →Getting startedDoes a JR Pass pay off on a card shop trip to Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka?Only on a round trip, and only by a little. At JR's published smartEX prices, Tokyo to Shin-Osaka to Hakata and back to Tokyo on Hikari and Sakura…Read the guide →Getting startedWhat does a card shop trip to Japan need your phone online for, and which connection covers it?Tournament check-in, shop pages and maps, and the airport tax refund all assume a phone with data, and Pokémon's Players Club sends an SMS to a mobile…Read the guide →