Cards for the Pokémon Trading Card Game have been printed in both English and Japanese since 1998, but not all cards are created equal. The Pokémon card flipping market has always existed to some extent. But it’s taken off in recent years, catapulting some of the rarest Pokémon cards to astronomical prices. As a result, many collectors have looked into buying Japanese Pokémon cards, which, much like their English counterparts, can become precious collectibles in their own right.
A number of factors determine a Pokémon card’s value: its rarity, its condition, and its usefulness in competitive play. Japanese Pokémon cards are subject to all these values – but because they’re produced and sold in a different kind of market, Japanese Pokémon cards aren’t always worth the same exact amounts as their English equivalents. It varies from card to card, but here are some of the factors that influence the value of Japanese Pokémon cards, as well as some examples of direct price comparisons.
Most Japanese Pokémon cards are worth more than their English counterparts, simply due to their rarity in English markets. Still, the value of any individual Japanese Pokémon card is affected by the same factors as an English Pokémon card. It’s impossible to say with any kind of general certainty whether Japanese Pokémon cards as a whole are worth more than English ones. However, there are a couple of unique considerations, resulting from inherent differences between the English and Japanese Pokémon card markets, that affect the price of each individual card.
For one thing, it’s estimated that The Pokémon Company International prints more cards in English than in Japanese. This is due to the simple fact that the English market is much larger, encompassing multiple countries, while the Japanese market is limited to Japan. As a result, each individual Japanese Pokémon card is rarer than its English counterpart. However, rare pulls are more common in English booster packs than in Japanese ones, so buying English sets will increase the number of rares a collector finds overall.
There are also many Japan-exclusive Pokémon cards, which are inevitably more valuable than the average English card due to their inherent rarity. Many (but not all) of these come from promotional packs, especially those released in conjunction with businesses like McDonald’s or Toys-R-Us.
However, because Japanese Pokémon cards can’t be used in English competitive play, they’re not as valuable to players who actually want to add them to their decks. Still, for collectors interested in their rarity or aesthetic value, exclusive Japanese Pokémon cards may be worth significantly more.
For recent sets and more common cards, Japanese Pokémon cards are worth slightly more than their English equivalents. For example, take a common card from the Scarlet & Violet base set: a perfectly normal Drifloon. The English version of this card sells for as little as $0.03 via TCGPlayer, while its Japanese version goes for $1.94 on eBay. A slightly rarer card, a reprint of the base set Pikachu released as part of the Pokémon Celebrations expansion set, goes for $0.35 in English via TCGPlayer, or $15 in Japanese via eBay.
Buying a recently-released set of Japanese cards may or may not be cheaper than an English set. Although the price of most booster packs is slightly lower in Japan than it is in the US, premiums and shipping costs must also be factored in. For example, a Temporal Forces booster pack may go for as little as $3 in English via Forge and Fire, while the Japanese equivalent goes for $5.49 in this eBay listing. Still, due to the higher pull rates in English booster packs, collectors are likely to find more rare cards in the cheaper pack.
However, consider that most Pokémon sets are released in Japanese before they’re released in English. As a result, there’s a brief window after each set is released in which some collectors will pay a premium for Japanese Pokémon cards that haven’t yet been released in their region. But once the set officially comes out in English, the value of most of these cards will plummet.
When it comes to really rare cards, however, Japanese Pokémon cards are almost always worth significantly more than their English counterparts. For example, the #223 Special Illustration Rare Charizard ex from the Obsidian Flames set goes for $42.52 in Near Mint condition via TCGPlayer. An eBay listing prices the Japanese version of that card at a whopping $600.
And when it comes to setting records, the most valuable Japanese Pokémon card of all time is worth far more than the most valuable English card, by several orders of magnitude. The most expensive English card, a perfect grade, first-edition Charizard from the original 1998 base set of Pokémon cards, was auctioned for $420,000 in March 2022. The most expensive Japanese Pokémon card is also the most expensive Pokémon card of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records: a Professional Sports Authenticator Grade 10 Pikachu Illustrator card, reportedly valued at $5,275,000.
So most individual Japanese Pokémon cards may be worth more than their English counterparts, but a number of factors complicate the comparison. Although booster packs are cheaper in Japan, many US sellers charge a premium for them. And although rare Japanese cards sell for quite a bit more, collectors are more likely to find rare cards in English-language booster packs, meaning more bang for less buck. As a result, there are both pros and cons to Japanese Pokémon cards, whether based on resale value or just collecting for fun. The choice is up to each individual Pokémon Trading Card Game collector.
Sources: TCGPlayer (1, 2, 3), Forge and Fire, eBay (1, 2, 3), Guinness Book of World Records
