Japan's Pokémon card store is allegedly robbed by its rival TCG store owner: “It's useless, I think you won't be caught. We'll definitely catch everyone
Blog Andrew Joseph 16 Jul , 2025 0
Small, portable, and sometimes worth so much money, it can even shock Pikachu, and the rare Pokémon card is increasingly targeted for theft and other crimes. Japanese news media Feel and Automatic Recently, it was reported that a total of 13,700,000 yen (about $92,000) of Pokémon cards and cash were stolen from a trading card store. The twist was that the third person arrested in this case was apparently the manager of a nearby rival trading card store.
The robbery took place around 3:30 am on June 16 at the Master of Card Store in GIFU Prefecture, central Japan. Two men in their 30s were later arrested for breaking in. According to Sanspo's article, one of the men was suspected of threatening the owner with a knife before picking up the card and cash. On July 9, a third person allegedly the owner of a nearby trade card store was arrested on suspicion of robbing accomplices, although according to police, he has not yet admitted or denied his involvement.
The robbed store has been posting information about the situation on its X account, revealing the identity of the third suspect as the manager of a competitor store. They have also been calling for information and calling on others involved to give up on themselves immediately.
“It's useless, I think you won't be caught. We'll definitely catch everyone,” they said Posts On July 10, it has attracted more than 1 million views since then. Commentators expressed sympathy for the victims and were shocked that someone would rob a store at the same job.
By the way, a similar Pokémon card robbery occurred in Japan last year. Back in September, two men broke into Osaka’s transaction card sellers, and also at 3:30 a.m., they threatened an employee who had just been selling cards with a knife, tied them up, and then took more than 1 million cards (worth over 10 million yen or around $67,000), as well as 250,000 Yen (about $250,000 of about $1,700) (about about funds): Kochi Sinboone).
Rare Pokémon cards have also become targets of robbery in other countries. Australia February ABC News Report a string of Pokémon card theft in Melbourne store. Just last week, a store in Massachusetts, USA stole more than $100,000 worth of cards during an early-morning break (Source: The New York Times).
Photography by John Keeble/Getty Images.
Verity Townsend is a Japanese freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for Game News website Automaton West. She also wrote articles about Japanese culture and film for various publications.