[REVISION HISTORY]

Japan trading-card market regulation

Updated 3 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-01 04:22 UTC → 2026-08-25 13:48 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Japan ~~trading‑card~~ trading-card market regulation

In late July ~~2026~~ 2026, the Japanese government intensified scrutiny of the rapidly expanding ~~trading‑card~~ trading-card sector. A parliamentary working group and task force, chaired by legislator Seiji Kihara, held its inaugural meeting on 23 July, hearing from industry bodies and METI about scalping, counterfeit cards, bulk buying for resale and possible ~~money‑laundering.~~ money-laundering. The task force is probing tighter verification for online purchases using the My Number digital ID, limits on the number of cards a verified fan may buy, and stricter rules on ~~large‑volume~~ large-volume transactions. Data show the primary Pokémon card market reached roughly $9 billion in 2025, with a secondary resale market above $2.8 billion annually. Domestic sales grew about ~~90 %~~ 90% from 2021 to 2025, hitting 338 billion yen (≈ $2 billion). A single rare card fetched $16.5 million in February, underscoring ~~high‑value~~ high-value stakes. Proposed measures include transaction caps, mandatory authenticity disclosures and tighter oversight of ~~secondary‑market~~ secondary-market platforms. A ~~follow‑up~~ follow-up panel meeting on 26 July confirmed the group’s intent to consult manufacturers and industry participants before issuing recommendations; no concrete regulation has been adopted yet. The same week a specialty shop in Japan that sells Pokémon and One Piece cards was robbed, losing a large portion of its inventory. The store offered a ¥1 million reward for information leading to the thieves’ capture and ~~¥50 000~~ ¥50,000 for tips resulting in arrests, highlighting security concerns alongside regulatory ones. On 1 August 2026, about 20 Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers formed a parliamentary coalition, again chaired by Seiji Kihara, to promote the sector while drafting rules to curb counterfeit cards and ~~bulk‑purchase~~ bulk-purchase resale. By early August, the Pokémon Company began implementing practical anti-scalping measures. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa announced that for certain 30th-anniversary products sold via the Pokémon Center Online, buyers must link their government-issued My Number Card to a Digital Identification App.

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