Danica Davidson
May 17, 2023 
A thief or thieves broke into a specialty shop in Arao, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan and stole about 600 Pokémon cards. If these cards had been properly sold, the store would have made around 6.5 million yen (which is about $48,000). Among the cards is one that would cost 600,000 yen (about $4,400).
Starting out, there had been about 800 cards in the newly-opened shop. Then, on May 13, the store’s manager arrived to start the day and saw an awful sight. The glass window was broken, and inside the store showcases were destroyed. The manager quickly called authorities and the Kumamoto Prefectural Police are currently looking into the situation. The store does have security cameras both inside and outside of it, so hopefully this will help solve the crime faster.
The new shop first opened its doors on May 1, only to be robbed less than two weeks later. Since then it has remained closed, though it should open again at some point. The Mainichi, a major Japanese news outlet, noted that some people view rare Pokémon cards as an “investment option” and talked about the high level of popularity Pokémon cards enjoy.
As for the manager, he told the press, “It’s unfortunate, and I feel angry at the culprit, but for now I will do my best to reopen the shop as soon as possible.”
Theft of Pokémon cards is not a new thing. Nor is scalping valuable Pokémon cards, and a store in Akihabara even makes the point of only selling certain Pokémon cards to kids in order to hopefully crack down on scalping. And this fervor for Pokémon cards isn’t just something that occurs in Japan. Two years ago it hit American news when people got into a violent brawl outside of Target over Pokémon cards.
Source: The Mainichi
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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