How far ahead of English releases is Japan, title by title?

How the gaps were counted

Every date comes from the publishers' own pages, the same ones behind the release calendar. Two editions count as one set when they share a set code (OP-17, GD05) or, for Union Arena, the same page address on the Japanese and North American sites. Retailer pre-order pages and fan wikis are left out. The gap is the English date minus the Japanese date, in days, using dates published as of November 3, 2026.

A pre-release event is not a release. English OP-17 had a pre-release on August 21, 2026, a day before Japan's launch, but the English page gives August 28 as the release date, and that is the date used below.

Weiss Schwarz is left out. Its English product pages don't name a Japanese counterpart, and matching sets by title alone would be guesswork. English Weiss Schwarz sets are also sold only in listed territories, which the regional guide covers set by set.

One Piece: 13 days behind, then a day ahead

All four Japanese dates fall on a Saturday, and the last two English dates on the Friday before. Four sets are too few to call a rule. The two editions are sold separately at their own prices; the Japanese-versus-English comparison lists OP-17's price in yen and in dollars, and the guide to Japanese One Piece cards covers the Japanese side of the game.

Gundam: English comes out first, by a day

Each pair is a Saturday in Japan and a Friday in English, so buying the Japanese edition gets you no head start. What differs is the language, and under the official language rules Japanese cards can't go in the main deck at a North American tournament.

Union Arena: months to years

Across the 15 sets with an announced English date, the median wait is 336 days.

The older the Japanese set, the longer the wait: My Hero Academia is 1,260 days, about three and a half years. Of the seven sets Japan releases in 2026, six reach English within 147 days, and Mushoku Tensei is the exception at 336. The table only covers sets whose English date has been announced. Japan's product list has many more booster packs with no English edition listed yet.

Three of the English products are not straight translations of one Japanese pack. Slime, My Hero Academia and ARKNIGHTS are sold in English as a Special Booster Pack, and Japan released a Vol.2 of each title (Slime on December 20, 2024, My Hero Academia on June 28, 2024, ARKNIGHTS on September 26, 2025). The English Slime page shows sample cards under "From the Japanese ver. Vol.1" and "From the Japanese ver. Vol.2", so that product draws on both. The My Hero Academia and ARKNIGHTS pages don't say. Their gaps above are measured from the Japanese Vol.1. Japan and English also run as separate versions with separate codes, UA for Japanese sets and UE for English ones.

Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! have no set-to-set gap

Pokémon's English and Japanese expansions carry different names and codes, and the publishers don't present them as pairs. Mega Evolution—Chaos Rising and the Japanese Abyss Eye even share a release date, May 22, 2026, but neither page mentions the other. The Japanese Pokémon set lists go through Japan's sets by their own names.

The exception is 30th Celebration. Japan's page says "2026年9月16日（水）世界同時発売！" (worldwide simultaneous release, Wednesday, September 16, 2026), and the English press release gives the same date for its launch around the world. The 30th Celebration guide covers the set.

Yu-Gi-Oh! sells the OCG in Japan and the TCG in English as separate products, which the OCG-versus-TCG article explains. Two same-named sets show why a date gap isn't a lead time. Beyond the Brave came out in Japan on July 18, 2026 and in English on October 9, 2026, 83 days later. Immortal Phoenix came out in Japan on October 31, 2026 and is due in English on January 29, 2027, 90 days later. The Japanese pages list 80 card types for each, and the English pages give a set size of 100 for each, so the two editions share a name but not a card list.

Using the calendar before you buy

For One Piece and Gundam, importing from Japan gets you the Japanese edition on the same weekend, not early access. For Union Arena, the Japanese edition is the only one for months or years, and an English Special Booster Pack may combine more than one Japanese volume. For Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, compare the English set's card list rather than its date. Each row in the release calendar links to the official pages the dates were read from.