A couple of days ago I came back from a trip to Japan. It was my fourth trip in the last couple of years (and very likely my last one for quite some time). I’d like to share my purchases of this trip and like to add a few words about Pokemon card hunting and Japan in general in the end.
But let’s start with my purchases. I found a couple of cards of the Theater Limited VS Series. I especially like the Politoad and Kabutops.
Some really nice vintage holos. Both of these Espeon cards have been on my Wants list for quite some time, so really happy to finally have them in my collection.
More vintage holos, this time from Generation 3.
The biggest part of the purchases were to fill my ADV binders. To complete those is one of my main collecting goals. I found basically all of these cards in bulk bins, so most of them were 20 or 30 Yen. Condition wise they rank from Lightly/Moderatly Played to Excellent, some might even be Near Mint.
I was also able to find some replacements for my Base Set binder. Especially love the No Rarity Nidorino. I also started to get some Fossil and Jungle non-holos.
Some cards for my Feraligatr collection.
I am not a huge modern collector, the only modern cards I really collect (apart from Feraligatr ones), are cards with a connection to Legends Arceus (precisely all CHRs, ARs, CSRs, SRs, SARs and Trainer Full Art/Gold cards). I made huge progress towards this collection goal and now I am just missing a handful of cards.
I found 2 mystery cubes for 500 Yen each, I am looking forward to open them. Also got the Deck Box from the Tohoku box.
Finally, the last TCG related items are some packs that I got at various Pokemon Centers and in Taipei where I had a layover on my flight back.
This concludes the TCG section of my trip, however some of my favorite purchases were not TCG related. I went to 4 different Pokemon Center during this trip. Especially the ones in Kagawa and Nagoya were really nice and I picked some nice stuff up at those. I especially love that Slowpoke and Pikachu plush from the PC Kagawa.
Finally, the last pick ups were some video games:
A few words on Japan in general and Pokemon card hunting there. In my opinion, if you just go to Japan for Pokemon card shopping because you expect you get the best deals there, you will be really disappointed. Most of the stores carry only modern cards, prices are sometimes even higher than on international eBay and especially in Tokyo and Osaka, if there is a good deal, you need to be there at the time the shop opens because there are so many (western) people browsing those stores. In more rural areas or away from the main tourist route prices are certainly better but the selection usually is smaller as well. Yes, there are still deals to be found there but just going to Japan for those is not worth it in my opinion.
I really enjoy browsing card stores, especially going through the vintage bulk bins, but on all 4 of my trips, card and game hunting was just a nice side adventure. The main part of the trip consisted of exploring Japans cities and countryside. The only Pokemon related thing I would really recommend to Pokemon fans is checking out a Pokemon Center, ideally not one of the major ones in Tokyo or Osaka. Still, especially on Tokyo there are some nice ones as well. I just would not really recommend both in Osaka and the one in Shibuya (although the Mewtwo in the tube at the entrance is really cool), because they are usually really crowded and don’t have a great selection. I am lucky enough to have been at 13 different ones over my 4 trips and my favorite ones were those in Nagoya, Kagawa and Okinawa.
I want to finish with one of the real highlights of Japan, which is the breathtaking nature. Both of these photos were taken on the island of Shikoku:
Thanks everybody for reading.
In Hand 
“ which basically has been keeping me alive reading over the years, though I’d never sell this unless it goes to bajillion dollars.
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