Recently NHK Japan flew out to interview me for a Pokemon special. For those who aren’t aware (myself included before this interview) NHK is the largest broadcasting network in Japan! This special is about the popularity of Pokemon in Japan. A lot of great footage of stores, collectors and the overall climate of Pokemon. My appearance starts at 10:50.
They actually did 4 hours of content, just for the 10:50 segment.
The questions were about the recent growth and interest in Pokemon cards. I think the one they used was “why are pokemon cards valuable, because they are just cards”. I explained how the value is abstract just like with any collectible, and they are no different than sport cards, artwork, etc.
Yes I received an email and they flew out later that week! The whole process was about 4 hours. The full interview was actually really good. The questions made a great discussion. Here were a few of them:
What is the current value of the trading cards you own (as much as you can say)? How did you get there to make such a fortune?
Do you consider yourself a collector or investor of trading cards? Why did you choose that as a career? What attracts you most about Pokémon cards?
Please tell us how trading cards, especially Pokémon cards, become a tangible and alternative investment asset in recent years beyond a hobby for certain enthusiasts.
Why do you think Japanese gaming cards, some of which are even written in the Japanese language, became so popular in the US and beyond? Why have some of those Japanese card prices skyrocketed in recent years?
What are the advantages of investing in trading cards instead of jewelry or real estate?
That is so cool!! I think it’s very interesting they’re asking so many investment and value based questions. I guess it makes more sense given the past several years, but I didn’t expect NHK to be the ones to fly out to you and ask questions about the stonkz!
There were definitely some normie questions. But overall it was a great discussion about how and why pokemon is where its at today. The interviewer was so good. Honestly I should just see what it would cost for her to come back and do the full interview on my channel.
When I was in middle school through early highschool, my family was stationed out in Japan. Many years later, my parents are still nostalgic of Japan and frequently watch sumo wrestling as well as the news on NHK! I’ll have to watch this with them, I’m super excited!
Ahh the old film industry. Shoot for 4 hours, use 2 minutes of material in the final edit. Haha. I know how you feel, I do it every day!
That must have been a really cool experience man. That’s awesome. I bet it was a blast to have the Japanese film crew around and to share your collection with them.
This interview is really awesome! Too bad I am not fluent in Japanese . Sounds like the discussion topics were pretty detailed and engaging. I’m assuming you weren’t given a copy of the interview? If anything, since you’ve already gone through the process, you could pretty easily make a series of content surrounding the discussion topics.
What kind of questions did they ask you?
Super cool imo
