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Pokémon Japan Raises Booster Pack Price to ¥230, Its Second Increase in a Year
The Pokémon Company in Japan will raise the suggested retail price of a standard five-card Pokémon Card Game expansion pack from ¥200 to ¥230 (tax included) for new products released from May 2027, citing rising raw material costs, per a notice on the official site dated November 6, 2026. It is the second increase in roughly a year: packs went from ¥180 to ¥200 for products released from May 2026. Products released through April 2027 keep their current price, which is ¥200 for packs released since May 2026.
What Changes, and What Does Not
Per the November 6 notice, translated from Japanese:
- Covered: standard expansion packs of 5 cards, in new products released from May 2027
- New suggested price: ¥230 per pack, tax included, up from ¥200
- Not covered: products released in April 2027 or earlier, which the notice lists at ¥200
- Exceptions: Pokémon says some expansion packs may be priced differently
- Other products: items outside the standard pack price line will be priced individually
The notice gives rising raw material costs, among other factors, as the reason. It says nothing about English or other regional prices, and as of November 6, 2026 we found no matching announcement from The Pokémon Company International.
The Japanese Pack Price Since Scarlet & Violet
The step to ¥230 caps a run of increases:
- ¥165: the standard pack price before Scarlet & Violet
- ¥180: from January 2023, with the start of Scarlet & Violet, per PokeGuardian
- ¥200: for products from May 2026, per Pokémon's earlier notice dated January 30, 2026, also reported by Kai-You
- ¥230: for products from May 2027, per the November 6 notice
That is about 39% from ¥165 to ¥230 over roughly four years, by our arithmetic.
What It Means for Collectors
For anyone who opens or imports Japanese product, the arithmetic is simple. By our math, a 30-pack box at the new pack price comes to ¥6,900, up from ¥6,000 at ¥200 (Pokémon has not announced box prices). The change only touches sets released from May 2027, so everything up to and including the April 2027 releases keeps the current price. That includes Hadou Seeker, out November 27, 2026 at ¥200 a pack.
Two caveats. These are suggested prices, and Japanese stores can sell sealed product above or below them. The increase also comes in yen, so what an importer pays in dollars or euros depends on exchange rates as much as on the sticker.
Our take: if you build sets from Japanese packs, the sets released from May 2026 through April 2027 are the last ones scheduled at ¥200, so that window is the one to finish. Our guide to whether Japanese Pokémon cards are worth more covers the Japanese versus English question. Our Pokémon TCG release dates page tracks the English calendar, and our best Pokémon packs to buy guide covers which English products give the most for the money.
Where to Go From Here
The ¥230 price starts with Japanese sets released in May 2027. If you would rather pull real cards without importing sealed product, the Polkastarter marketplace gives you a free mystery pack at signup, and every Lootbox lists its contents, values, and chances before you open.
Details checked November 6, 2026. Prices are suggested retail prices as announced on the dates given and can change. Nothing here is financial advice. Polkastarter is not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures, GAME FREAK or the other companies named.
Sources
- The Pokémon Company (Japan): Notice of price revision for some products (in Japanese), published November 6, 2026, accessed November 6, 2026
- The Pokémon Company (Japan): Notice of price revision for some products, May 2026 (in Japanese), published January 30, 2026, accessed November 6, 2026
- Kai-You: Pokémon Card Game expansion packs go from 180 yen to 200 yen (in Japanese), published January 30, 2026, accessed November 6, 2026
- PokeGuardian: Japanese Pokémon Card Game booster packs get a price increase starting in May 2026, published January 30, 2026, accessed November 6, 2026
- The Pokémon Company (Japan): Hadou Seeker product page (in Japanese), undated, accessed November 6, 2026
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Ilknur Gubel is a social media manager at Polkastarter. Ilknur has spent the past four years working as a project manager, marketing manager, and social media strategist across Web3. She has held marketing and project management positions at several crypto companies, including Polygen, Nitro League, Kaizen.Finance, and ChainPort.
At Polkastarter she has covered trading card releases, collectible market pricing, and how token holders can spend crypto on real cards and videogames.
Based in Istanbul, Ilknur earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Istanbul Aydın University.
You can connect with her on LinkedIn for more information.