Pokemon card scalping is now a government problem in Japan
Japan’s ruling party is launching a parliamentary group to tackle scalping, counterfeits, and even money laundering in a $2.3 billion trading card market. It meets July 23, as a Pokémon boom fuels real card heists and the Pokémon Company rolls out government ID checks.
Trading cards were supposed to be a kids’ hobby. In Japan, they’re now a big enough business that the government is getting involved.
Japan‘s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is setting up a new parliamentary group aimed at the country’s booming trading card industry, and the problems that have come with it. Scalping. Counterfeits. Even, potentially, money laundering.
What Japan is actually doing
Let’s be precise about it, because “government taskforce” sounds more dramatic than what’s happening so far. This is a parliamentary discussion group, not an instant crackdown.
The group holds its first meeting on July 23, where lawmakers will sit down with industry organizations and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to hear about the state of the market. From there, they’ll look at scalping, bulk buying, resale practices, counterfeit cards, transparency, and the possibility of pricey cards being used to launder money.
No new laws are expected right away. For now it’s a forum, a place for lawmakers, ministries, and card companies to figure out how to keep the market growing without letting the scalpers and fakes eat it alive. New rules could follow. They just aren’t here yet.
A $2.3 billion hobby
The reason the government cares is the money. According to Japan’s Toy Association, the domestic trading card market has grown every single year since 2017, hitting around ¥338.4 billion, roughly $2.3 billion, in 2025.
Somewhere along the way, cards stopped being toys and became assets. The clearest example is the one you’ve probably heard of: the ultra-rare Pikachu Illustrator card Logan Paul bought and had graded, which set a Guinness World Record when it sold for $16.4 million. When a piece of cardboard can be worth more than a house, people stop treating it like a game.
The scalping and crime problem
That kind of value attracts exactly who you’d expect. Scalpers snap up new releases the second they hit shelves, leaving actual fans with nothing unless they’re willing to line up before dawn on release day.
And it’s escalated past annoyance into actual crime. Thieves have pulled off Pokémon card heists worth tens of thousands of dollars, one crew made off with over $200,000 in cards from a van in Tokyo, and police have run sting operations to catch serial card robbers. Cards are being stolen the way jewelry used to be. It’s the same logic. Small, valuable, easy to move.
The Pokémon Company’s government ID move
The card makers aren’t waiting around for lawmakers, either. The Pokémon Company is rolling out its own answer, and it’s a big one.
Starting around August 2026, buyers in Japan will need to verify their identity with the government-issued My Number Card to enter card lotteries, buy certain products from Pokémon Center Online, or register for some official events. Because that ID mostly goes to Japanese residents, the system effectively locks overseas buyers, and the scalpers among them, out of those purchases.
It’s an aggressive fix. Needing to scan a government ID to buy trading cards is a genuinely strange sentence, and plenty of collectors have said so. It protects real fans from the resale mob. It also means the barrier to buying some cardboard is now a national identity document. Both of those things are true at once.
What it means for collectors
For fans, all of this points the same direction. The days of just wandering into a shop and grabbing a booster pack are fading, at least for the hottest releases. What’s replacing them is ID checks, purchase limits, and now government attention.
Whether that’s a hobby being protected or a hobby being smothered probably depends on how often you’ve watched a scalper clear a shelf in front of you. Japan’s lawmakers get their first crack at sorting it out on July 23. Collectors will be watching to see whether “we’re forming a group” turns into anything that actually helps.
Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
D/REZZED is part of Clownfish TV. For more news, views, and rants on gaming, tech, and pop culture, visit clownfishtv.com. Watch the show on YouTube at @ClownfishTV where new episodes drop daily. Subscribe to the Clownfish TV podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Sign up for the free newsletter at more.clownfishtv.com.
Hat Tips:
Kyodo News (via Dexerto and SoraNews24) — the LDP parliamentary group, the July 23 first meeting, the METI and industry input, and the scalping, counterfeit, and money-laundering focus
SoraNews24 — the clarification that no immediate new laws are expected, and the $2.3 billion market figure from Japan’s Toy Association
Dexerto — the card-heist and theft examples, the Logan Paul $16.4M Pikachu record, and the resale-price context
Kotaku / PokéBeach / SoraNews24 — the Pokémon Company’s My Number Card ID requirement starting August 2026 and its effect on overseas buyers