Pullorax Guide№ 028 min read

How to start collecting Japanese Pokémon cards

Which box to open first, how to read a Japanese card, what the rarity codes mean, and how to keep what you pull — a first guide for collectors who start with the Japanese print.

Shop Japanese boxes → Sealed boxes in stock now ↓

Illus. miki kudo · Yoriyuki Ikegami · Mitsuhiro Arita

In short

Start with one set you love, not with everything: every Japanese set has its own artists, story and secret rares.
Learn to read a card's number: 174/086 means card 174 of a set with 86 numbered cards — everything above 086 is a secret rare.
The booster box is the standard unit — 30 packs of 5 cards. A High Class box is 10 packs of 10 with an ex in every pack.
Sealed means the factory shrink film is intact. A no-shrink box is fine when the seller says so.
Sleeves and a binder from day one; Japanese cards are the same size as English ones.

Why start with the Japanese print

Every Pokémon card is printed in Japan first. The artwork debuts there, the set names are the original ones, and the rarities the whole game now uses — the Art Rare and the Special Art Rare — were born in a Japanese set, VSTAR Universe, in December 2022. Collecting the Japanese print means collecting the first edition of the idea, in the language the illustrators signed it in.

It also means smaller boxes. A Japanese booster box is 30 packs of 5 cards, so a whole box is a manageable evening rather than a project — and it is the unit every set file in this magazine describes.

How a Japanese set is built

A set has two parts. The numbered cards run from 1 to the set's count — 86 in Black Bolt, 193 in Mega Dream ex. Then come the secret rares, numbered above that count: the Art Rares, the full-art ex, the Special Art Rares and the gold cards. A card marked 174/086 is the 174th card of a set with 86 numbered cards, so it is a secret rare.

There are three product shapes you will meet:

Expansion pack (拡張パック) — the regular set: 5 cards a pack, 30 packs a box. Black Bolt, Storm Emeralda and Mega Brave are expansion packs.
High Class Pack (ハイクラスパック) — 10 cards a pack, 10 packs a box, one Pokémon ex guaranteed in every pack, built from the year's strongest cards plus new secret rares. Mega Dream ex, Terastal Festival ex and Shiny Treasure ex are High Class Packs.
Enhanced expansion pack (強化拡張パック) — a smaller set that sits beside a main one; Pokémon Card 151 is the best-known example, with 7 cards a pack and 20 packs a box.

Set codes tell you the era: S is Sword & Shield, SV is Scarlet & Violet, M is the MEGA series. A lowercase letter after the number marks a side set — SV2a, SV4a, SV8a — and paired sets share a number with a letter each: M1L and M1S, SV11B and SV11W.

Mew ex SAR 205/165, Japanese Pokémon card — Pokémon Card 151: the set most people start with — the original 151, numbered in Pokédex order.
№ 005 Pokémon Card 151 →View the box →

Erika's Invitation SAR 206/165, Japanese Pokémon card — Pokémon Card 151: the set most people start with — the original 151, numbered in Pokédex order.
№ 005 Pokémon Card 151 →View the box →

Reading a card

Everything you need is on the bottom edge of the card: the illustrator's name, the card number over the set's numbered count, the rarity mark, the set code and the regulation mark. You do not need to read Japanese to collect — the number and the set code are the same in every language of the internet, and each set file in this magazine lists every card with its Japanese and English name.

The rarity ladder

From the bottom up: C common, U uncommon, R rare, RR the regular Pokémon ex. Then the secret tiers: AR Art Rare, a full illustration of a regular Pokémon; SR the full-art ex and supporters; SAR Special Art Rare; UR the gold cards. Some sets add their own — S and SSR for shiny Pokémon, MUR for the top card of a MEGA-era set, BWR for the black-and-white Zekrom and Reshiram of Black Bolt and White Flare.

High Class Packs are the exception to one rule: most of their regular cards carry no rarity mark at all. That is how they were printed, not a defect — the set files say so where it applies.

N's Zekrom AR 210/193, Japanese Pokémon card — The ladder in Mega Dream ex, bottom to top: AR, SR, MA, SAR, MUR.
№ 001 Mega Dream ex →View the box →

Canary SR 219/193, Japanese Pokémon card — The ladder in Mega Dream ex, bottom to top: AR, SR, MA, SAR, MUR.
№ 001 Mega Dream ex →View the box →

What to buy first

A booster box of a current expansion is the standard way in: 150 cards, the set's full rarity range, and a set file to read alongside. If you want secret rares in every pack, a High Class box gives you an ex per pack by design. Single packs are the way to try a set before committing to a box.

Two habits worth having from the start. Read the set file before you buy — you will know what the box can contain and what it cannot. And buy sealed product from a seller who states the packaging plainly: sealed means the factory shrink film is intact; no shrink means a distributor removed the film before export, which is common for Japanese product and fine when it is declared.

Keeping what you pull

Japanese cards are the same size as English ones — 63 × 88 mm — so standard sleeves, toploaders and binder pages fit. Sleeve the cards you care about the day you pull them; put the hits in a rigid holder; keep the binder out of sunlight and away from humidity. That is the whole discipline, and it is enough.

Charizard VSTAR SAR 212/172, Japanese Pokémon card — Cards worth sleeving on day one: VSTAR Universe and Storm Emeralda.
№ 014 VSTAR Universe →View the box →№ 004 Storm Emeralda →View the box →

Mewtwo VSTAR SAR 221/172, Japanese Pokémon card — Cards worth sleeving on day one: VSTAR Universe and Storm Emeralda.
№ 014 VSTAR Universe →View the box →№ 004 Storm Emeralda →View the box →

Japanese names, English names

Every set file ends with a table of the same cards in English: the Japanese card and number beside the English name and number of the same print. If you know a card as Charizard, the table finds リザードン for you — and the other way round.

More questions? The PulloraX FAQ covers ordering, shipping, customs and product condition — see the FAQ.

Side by side

	Expansion pack	High Class Pack	Enhanced expansion pack
Cards per pack	5	10	7 (Pokémon Card 151)
Packs per box	30	10	20
Guaranteed ex per pack	No	Yes	No
What it is	The set of the season	The year's strongest cards plus new secret rares	A side set beside a main one
Examples in the magazine	Black Bolt, Storm Emeralda, Mega Brave	Mega Dream ex, Terastal Festival ex, Shiny Treasure ex	Pokémon Card 151

From the PulloraX vault

Sealed boxes in stock now

The sets mentioned in this guide, as Japanese factory-sealed boxes. Shipped tracked from the PulloraX vault.

All Japanese boxes →

M2a · In stock Mega Dream ex M2a Japanese Pokémon Booster Box View the box →
SV2a · In stock Pokémon 151 SV2a Japanese Booster Box View the box →
M6 · In stock Storm Emeralda M6 Japanese Pokémon Booster Box View the box →
S12a · In stock VSTAR Universe S12a Japanese Pokémon Booster Box View the box →

Set files mentioned in this guide

More set files

Questions

Good to know

Are Japanese cards a different size?

No. Japanese and English Pokémon cards are the same size, 63 × 88 mm, so standard sleeves, toploaders and binder pages fit both.

Do I need to read Japanese?

No. The card number, the set code and the rarity mark are the same in every language of the internet, and each set file in this magazine lists every card with its Japanese and English name.

Booster box or High Class box — which first?

A booster box of a current expansion is the standard start: 30 packs of 5 cards and the set's full rarity range. A High Class box is 10 packs of 10 with a Pokémon ex in every pack — choose it if the guaranteed ex matters more to you than the number of packs.

What does sealed mean, and is no shrink a problem?

Sealed means the factory shrink film is still on the box, unbroken. A no-shrink box had the film removed by a distributor before export, which is common for Japanese product; it is fine when the seller declares it. PulloraX states the packaging on every product page and never re-wraps a box.

Why do some Japanese cards have no rarity mark?

In High Class Packs most regular cards are printed without a C, U or R symbol. That is how the set was made; the set files note it where it applies.

How do I know a set is the Japanese one?

By the Japanese text and the set code — SV11B, M2a, S12a. On PulloraX every product is the Japanese print, and every set file in the magazine is about the Japanese set.

PulloraX Magazine

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Card images are shown for identification. The cards, the characters and the artwork are trademarks and copyright of their respective owners. PulloraX is an independent retailer.