Business Pokémon card boom prompts Japan to consider regulation

[thomas]

Japan is considering regulating its fast-growing trading card market as prices climb into the millions of dollars and concerns grow over counterfeiting and money laundering. A working group within the LDP said trading cards could no longer be regarded simply as consumer products. In a statement, it said the market had expanded rapidly, and the asset value of many cards had risen sharply, creating problems that could no longer be ignored.

The collecting and trading of cards, once a pastime confined to the schoolyard, is now a lucrative global market. Fierce demand has driven up prices to the extent that a single card can be worth millions of dollars. In February, a rare Pokemon card owned by YouTuber Logan Paul was sold for about $16 million. The domestic market grew by 90% to ¥338 billion ($2.1 billion) in the four years to 2025. For Japan's government, the increasing financialization of the trading card market is problematic. The group heard that card values are largely determined by a U.S. company, despite the Japanese origins of the likes of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh.

Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania

The collecting and trading of cards, once a pastime confined to the schoolyard, is now a lucrative global market.

www.japantimes.co.jp

Singapore and Indonesia have already initiated steps to regulate Pokémon trading cards.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Amazing how cards go up in value. My US Civil War bubble gum card collection is listed for sale on E-bay for 392978Y now.