Japanese thief who broke window and stole hundreds of cards... turned out to be 'Pokemon cards'

Rare Card Auction Prices Soar to Hundreds of Millions
Related Crimes Surrounding Pokemon Cards on the Rise

There has been a series of theft incidents targeting 'Pok?mon cards,' causing headaches in Japanese society. 'Pok?mon cards' are cards featuring character illustrations from Japan's popular animation 'Pok?monster.'

According to reports from the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun on the 14th, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department announced on the 13th that they had arrested a man identified as Mr. A (35) on charges of theft and trespassing for stealing about 1,500 Pok?mon cards.

Mr. A is accused of breaking into a trading card store in Akihabara, Tokyo, around 5 a.m. on April 12, breaking the display case, and stealing 1,500 Pok?mon cards worth 1.15 million yen (approximately 10.46 million KRW).

Mr. A told the police that after seeing a high-paying job advertisement on social networking services (SNS), he responded and was instructed over the phone to steal Pok?mon cards. He claimed that he received tools and gloves from an unknown man.

"600 Pok?mon cards disappeared"... Increase in Pok?mon card-related crimes

Pokemon Cards. Photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image provided by eBay]

This is not the first time Pok?mon card thefts have occurred in Japan. Two related incidents have been confirmed in Tokyo alone this year, with additional cases reported in Yamanashi, Saga, Okayama, and Kumamoto Prefectures.

In particular, on the 13th of last month, a Pok?mon card specialty store named 'EX' in Arao City, Kumamoto Prefecture, reported a theft to the police. The store owner, Mr. B (26), said, "When I opened the store in the morning, the glass of the display case was broken," adding, "600 Pok?mon cards worth a total of 6.5 million yen (approximately 59.17 million KRW) were missing."

Pok?mon card-related crimes are also occurring in the United States. In March last year, a man in the U.S. was sentenced to three years in prison after abusing the COVID-19 Small Business Emergency Loan Program to fraudulently obtain loans and then purchasing expensive rare Pok?mon cards.

The man applied for an economic disaster loan from the Small Business Administration in July 2020 and received $85,000 (approximately 100 million KRW), of which $57,789 (about 71 million KRW) was used to purchase rare Pok?mon cards. The cards he bought were from the first edition released in 1999.

One 'Pikachu card' sold for 7 billion KRW

Meanwhile, as Pok?mon cards gain popularity among collectors, rare cards have recently attracted attention as investment items, with some trading for hundreds of millions of KRW.

The 'Pikachu' card, featuring the main character of 'Pok?monster,' was auctioned starting at 600 million KRW and sold for as much as 7 billion KRW. The official name of this card is '1998 Pok?mon Pikachu Illustrator Card PSA 8.' It was awarded as a prize to winners of the 'Pok?mon Illustrator Contest' held between 1997 and 1998, with only 41 copies produced at the time.

Additionally, a card featuring the Pok?mon character Charizard was auctioned for about 400 million KRW. This card is the 1999 English first edition and received the highest grade from PSA, a company that assesses card preservation conditions, attracting significant interest even before the auction.