Japanese Pok?mon Card Theft Crimes Surge..."Hundreds of Thousands of Won per Card"
20s Office Worker Caught Stealing Pok?mon Cards
Higher Rarity, Higher Price...Media Concerned Over Speculation Frenzy
In Japan, a series of thefts and robberies targeting Pok?mon cards have been occurring, spreading into a social issue. As a single popular Pok?mon card commands prices of several million Korean won, the trading of Pok?mon cards appears to be turning into a form of speculation.
According to NHK on the 30th, a 25-year-old company employee was arrested by the police on suspicion of stealing Pok?mon cards from a card shop in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The suspect is accused of entering the card shop after business hours around 1 a.m. on the 8th and stealing 74 Pok?mon cards and 20,000 yen (approximately 180,000 KRW) in cash.
Among the stolen items was a high-value card worth 180,000 yen (about 1.7 million KRW) per card, and the total damage to the store is reported to be 2.2 million yen (about 20.72 million KRW). The suspect admitted to the charges during police questioning, stating, "I sold the stolen cards. I committed similar crimes at other stores." The police confiscated a large number of Pok?mon cards from the suspect's residence and are investigating the possibility of additional offenses.
Across Japan, crimes targeting Pok?mon cards have been occurring nationwide this year. On the 6th, Hiroshima Prefectural Police arrested a 24-year-old company employee on charges of trespassing and theft for stealing Pok?mon cards. The suspect broke into a closed store in March last month and stole 16 Pok?mon cards, valued at 383,260 yen (about 3.6 million KRW).
In February, a duo of thieves committing similar crimes in Tokyo were also apprehended. It was revealed that they were involved in so-called "dark part-time jobs," where criminal organizations recruit accomplices through social networking services (SNS) by falsely advertising high-paying part-time jobs and instructing them to commit crimes. The cards they stole totaled 540, valued at 26.6 million yen (about 250 million KRW), with the most expensive card worth 590,000 yen (about 5.55 million KRW). Asahi Shimbun reported that five theft incidents targeting so-called "trading cards," including Pok?mon cards, occurred in Tokyo alone earlier this year.
Due to the consecutive crimes, Japanese media have pointed out that the Pok?mon card craze is excessive. On new Pok?mon card release days, overnight queuing known as the "Pokeka (Pok?mon Card) War" and high-priced reselling are still rampant.
Pokemon cards traded on Amazon Japan. Most are priced between 150,000 and 200,000 KRW. (Photo by Amazon Japan homepage)
Sankei Shimbun reported on the 7th that 2,000 people lined up from the day before on the release day of new Pok?mon cards. Although the official price including tax is 5,400 yen, most buyers were "resellers" purchasing at the official price to resell at higher prices, Sankei reported.
The cards are more popular the higher their rarity value. For example, a card with a typo in the description of the popular Pok?mon Lizardon was traded for 50 million yen (about 470 million KRW), attracting attention.
Observing this phenomenon, Pok?mon card investors have even emerged. Many cards priced at a few tens of thousands of won have surged to tens of thousands of yen within a few months. These investors collect information on cards expected to increase in price via SNS and buy and sell them to increase profits.
However, amid the frenzy, children are actually unable to even see Pok?mon cards. Sankei criticized, "Pok?mon cards have turned into an intense 'money game' beyond children's play," adding, "Now even children find it difficult to obtain Pok?mon cards, losing the opportunity to enjoy the cards' original fun."
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