What rules do Japanese card shops post for customers, and what do visitors need to know?

What the store pages cover

The store pages listed under Sources are built around hours, access, seat counts and the games each shop handles. None of them says how to ask for a card from a locked showcase, whether you may photograph cards, whether shelf prices are negotiable, or what to do with a bag or a drink. Hareruya2 Akihabara Tower's English page, Hobby Station Ikebukuro's page and Card Rush's store directory carry no notice on photography, showcases, payment or bags. Hareruya's Shibuya page links to a terms-of-use page, but it governs the website, not the shop floor. A missing rule doesn't mean anything goes, or that something is forbidden. The shop simply hasn't published one, and the staff at the counter decide.

Card Labo's terms of use come closest to a conduct notice. The shop's own cameras record continuously for crime prevention, some stores use security cameras with face identification to detect shoplifting, and threats, insults and similar conduct toward staff are prohibited. Shelf cards carry condition letters that differ by chain; the guide to shop condition grades explains what each one means.

Paying in store

Payment is where the pages get specific, and the answer changes from shop to shop. Card Labo Ikebukuro lists credit cards, e-money, smartphone payments and code payments under 【ご利用可能な決済】. Card Labo Namba names the card brands (VISA, Master, UnionPay, JCB, American Express, Diners, Discover) and a list of code-payment apps, and says PiTaPa isn't accepted. Dragon Star Ikebukuro's text lists only 現金 (cash). Its page also shows a payment graphic that couldn't be read, so cash is the only confirmed method there.

The Pokémon Center FAQ says credit cards, code payments and transit IC cards can be used, and that accepted brands vary by store. None of these lists mentions foreign-issued cards. A card or phone wallet that works at one shop may fail at the next, so carry some yen, and enough of it for a shop that lists cash alone.

Baskets and duel space

Card Labo Ikebukuro's page gives one in-store instruction: use the dedicated baskets when shopping (お買い物の際は専用のカゴをご利用ください).

Duel spaces are described by size and price. Card Labo Namba calls its large duel space "usable for free." Hareruya's Shibuya store and its Osaka tournament center list free play space with 24 and 200 seats, and the Dragon Star Ikebukuro page gives 116 seats. Which shops have space, and what their events require, is covered in the guide to play spaces and tournaments and the city guides for Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.

Purchase limits on new releases

Limits are posted per product, and often without a stated number. The Pokémon Center FAQ says quantity limits may be set on some products "so that more customers can receive them." Hareruya2's help page says the same of its online shop: the latest singles and packs may be limited. It doesn't say whether the physical stores follow suit. For the 30th CELEBRATION release, MEGA TOKYO sold packs only to lottery winners, 10 per person; the release-day guide has the dates.

How much of one product you can buy on release day comes down to the notice for that product. If you're buying tax-free to take home, the tax-free guide covers the ¥5,000 minimum and the passport check, and the shop shipping guide lists the chains that send orders abroad.

Selling cards to a shop

Japan's rules for secondhand dealers apply to any card shop that buys cards. A Shizuoka Prefectural Police document summarizing Article 15 of the Secondhand Articles Dealers Act says a dealer must be shown identification, confirm the seller's address, name, occupation and age, and record each transaction. Its examples of ID are a driver's license and a My Number card. Gifu Prefectural Police's guidance gives the same two, ending the list with "等" (and so on). Neither document mentions passports or residence cards. Both describe an exemption for deals under ¥10,000, with listed exceptions such as game software, books and CDs, and neither list names trading cards. Shops set their own, stricter terms on top.

Card Labo's in-store buyback page accepts a driver's license, My Number card, disability certificate, a Japan-issued passport (日本国発行のパスポート), 外国人登録証明書, a residence record issued within the last three months, and a student ID. It rejects insurance cards, bank and credit cards, other stores' membership cards and expired documents. A foreign passport isn't on the list. Hareruya2's buying page requires ID showing a current address ("現住所が記載された身分証明書をお持ちでない場合、買取を行う事ができません"). Dragon Star asks sellers 18 or over for a document such as a driver's license, but that rule is for its online buyback, not the counter.

Dragon Star's usage guide, which governs its online buyback, says "買取査定金額に対しての交渉はお受け出来かねます" (the appraisal amount isn't open to negotiation). A Dragon Star store post on buying says the displayed buyback price can drop depending on the card's condition and the shop's stock, and the Ikebukuro store page says staff can't answer inquiries about stock arrivals or buyback prices.

No page says whether a shop will buy from a visitor on a foreign passport, so ask the specific shop before carrying cards over to sell. Sellers under 18, or still in high school, need a guardian's consent at Card Labo and Hareruya2.