Japanese cards are genuine Pokémon cards with the same rules. Whether you may use them depends on where you play.
What the official rules say
- Championship Series in Europe: at official tournaments where you earn Championship Points, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish are legal (TCG Tournament Handbook, revision 1 September 2026, section 2.3.1).
- Japanese cards: they have a different card back from all other Pokémon cards and therefore count as marked (section 2.1). A deck with Japanese cards is not allowed there.
- Other tournaments and League nights: the organiser decides which languages are allowed (section 2.3). Ask beforehand.
- At home and with friends: anything goes. The rules are the same, only the text is Japanese.
Playing with Japanese text
Attacks and effects are written in Japanese. With the set code and card number you can quickly look up the English text. How to read a card is explained in reading a Japanese Pokémon card. If you want to play competitively, cards in one of the legal languages are more useful.
At Kaikan Cards
We mainly sell Japanese boxes for collecting and opening. They are factory sealed and photographed before shipping; photos are available on request. For a few Japanese cards to play with at home, single packs from €4.95 (14 November 2026) are a cheap start. The differences from English cards are in Japanese or English.
