A unique identifier that cannot be faked without involving another person
In a hobby where artificial scarcity has become the norm, Japan's Pokémon Company is turning to the state itself as a gatekeeper — requiring government-issued identity verification to purchase certain trading cards online. The My Number Card system, born from Japan's broader digital governance ambitions, is now being enlisted to restore fairness to a marketplace distorted by resellers. It is a moment that asks an old question in a new form: how much of our identity must we surrender in order to participate in ordinary life?
- Scalpers have so thoroughly captured the Pokémon card market that genuine fans face near-impossible odds of buying new releases at retail price.
- Starting next month, certain Pokémon Center online purchases will require scanning a government-issued My Number Card through a Digital Agency smartphone app — creating an unforgeable, one-person-one-purchase bottleneck.
- The system immediately excludes foreign tourists, children under 15, and privacy-conscious residents who have avoided obtaining the card, cutting out some legitimate buyers alongside the scalpers it targets.
- Foreign bulk buyers may be an intentional casualty — Japanese-language-only cards have little legitimate use for overseas purchasers, making their exclusion a feature rather than a flaw.
- The deeper unease is infrastructural: the same verification system now covers an online store full of language-neutral merchandise, and the machinery to expand it further already exists.
The Pokémon Card Game's scalper problem has reached a point where ordinary fans must camp outside stores or refresh websites at precisely the right second just to have a chance at new releases. Resellers have industrialized the process, and the cards vanish before genuine collectors or players can reach them. The Pokémon Company's response is to enlist the Japanese government's identity infrastructure as a line of defense.
Beginning next month, select card purchases through the Pokémon Center online store will require verification through Japan's My Number Card — a government-issued ID from 2016 — paired with a Digital Agency smartphone app that scans the card and creates a unique personal identifier. Credit card numbers can be multiplied, addresses obscured, names falsified — but a My Number Card tied to a real person creates a genuine bottleneck against industrial-scale buying.
The system is not without its casualties. My Number Cards are issued only to Japan residents, which excludes international tourists entirely. Children under 15 cannot hold one independently, leaving young fans reliant on parents. And some Japanese residents have deliberately avoided the card over privacy concerns, finding themselves locked out as well. The exclusion of foreign buyers may be partly intentional — the cards are printed in Japanese only, making large overseas purchases inherently suspicious.
What lingers is a broader question about scope. The Pokémon Center Online store sells far more than cards — plushies, toys, and merchandise that cross language and regional lines just as easily as they cross scalpers' shopping carts. The verification infrastructure now exists. Whether it stays narrowly focused on high-demand card releases, or gradually expands to cover more categories and eventually physical stores, will determine whether this is a targeted remedy or the quiet beginning of something more pervasive.
The Pokémon Card Game has a scalper problem that has grown so severe that ordinary fans now face near-impossible odds of buying new releases. Unless you're willing to abandon your day and camp outside a store before opening, or refresh an online shop at precisely the right moment, the cards are gone—snatched up by resellers who flip them for inflated prices on the secondhand market. The Pokémon Company has finally decided to fight back, and its weapon is the Japanese government's My Number system.
On July 13, the Pokémon Card Game's official Japanese website announced that starting next month, certain card purchases through the Pokémon Center online store will require identification through the My Number Card, a government-issued ID established in 2016, along with a companion smartphone app called the Digital Identification App. The app, created by Japan's Digital Agency, works by scanning the My Number Card with a phone camera. Once registered, it serves as a unique personal identifier that cannot be faked or duplicated without involving another person entirely.
The logic is straightforward: a unique, unforgeable identifier makes it far harder for a single person to make suspiciously large bulk purchases. Credit card numbers can be multiplied. Shipping addresses can be obscured through office buildings or multi-unit residences. False names slip through easily in online transactions. But a My Number Card tied to a real person's identity creates a genuine bottleneck. The system is designed to detect and prevent the kind of industrial-scale buying that has locked genuine fans out of the hobby.
Yet the solution creates its own problems. My Number Cards are issued only to Japan residents—both citizens and foreign residents with proper status. This immediately excludes international tourists, including those who might legitimately want to buy cards while visiting Japan. Children under 15 cannot obtain a My Number Card at all, which means young fans cannot make independent purchases, though their parents can use their own cards to buy on their behalf. Some Japanese residents have deliberately avoided getting a My Number Card, citing privacy and data security concerns, and they will be unable to purchase restricted items through the system either.
The exclusion of foreign tourists may be intentional. Foreign scalpers are believed to account for a significant portion of the scalping problem in Japan, and the cards themselves are printed in Japanese only, making bulk purchases by non-residents inherently suspicious if they're not actually playing the game back home. The language barrier and the fact that official tournaments typically restrict play to locally-printed cards make it unlikely that legitimate overseas buyers would be targeting high-demand packs in the first place.
But there is a broader concern lurking beneath the surface. The My Number Card system is being integrated into the Pokémon Center Online store, which sells far more than just cards—plushies, toys, trinkets, and merchandise with no language barriers or regional restrictions. Some of these items have also become targets for scalpers. The question is whether the government identification requirement will eventually expand to cover those categories as well, and whether it might one day extend to physical Pokémon Center stores in Japan. If the infrastructure exists to implement it in one place, the temptation to expand it elsewhere is real.
For now, the Digital Identification App is limited to select Pokémon Card Game items and registration for certain card game events. The Pokémon Company is betting that a unique, government-backed identifier will finally give ordinary fans a fair shot at buying the cards they actually want to play with or collect. Whether it succeeds depends partly on how many scalpers are willing to involve other people in their schemes, and partly on whether the system remains narrowly focused or gradually expands into something larger. The answer to that question will determine whether this is a targeted fix or the beginning of something more intrusive.
Citas Notables
As part of our efforts to provide fair opportunities for all customers and safe, secure, and enjoyable services, we are currently proceeding with preparations to implement an identification system that uses the My Number Card— Pokémon Card Game official Japanese website
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Why does a card game need government ID?
Because scalpers have made it impossible for actual players to buy cards. The Pokémon Company tried other things—credit card blocks, address restrictions—but scalpers just worked around them. A government ID number is unique and can't be faked without involving another real person.
So it stops scalpers but also stops tourists?
Yes. Foreign tourists can't get a My Number Card, so they're locked out. But the company seems to think that's acceptable because foreign scalpers are a big part of the problem, and tourists probably weren't buying Japanese-text cards to play with back home anyway.
What about Japanese people who don't want the government app on their phone?
They're stuck. Some Japanese residents have refused to get a My Number Card because of privacy concerns. They have other IDs—insurance cards, student IDs—but none of those work with the Digital Identification App. So they can't buy the restricted cards either.
Could this expand to other things?
That's the real question. The Pokémon Center sells plushies and toys that also get scalped. If the government ID system works for cards, why not use it for those too? And if it works online, why not in physical stores? The infrastructure is there.
Is that necessarily bad?
Depends on your view. It solves a real problem—fans getting shut out of a hobby they love. But it also normalizes the idea that buying merchandise requires government identification. That's a shift worth noticing.
Will it actually work?
Maybe. It makes industrial-scale scalping harder. But determined scalpers could still involve family members or friends. It's not a perfect solution, just a better one than what existed before.