Since Pokémon cards were originally released over 25 years ago, there has always been both Japanese and English releases. A lot of them share the same art and sets, while some deviate and have exclusives only in Japanese or English versions of those particular cards.
This brings up a number of different questions then. Which cards are more popular? Is one of them more valuable than the other? Are Japanese or English Pokémon cards better overall? Should I collect one in particular?
In this article, we will cover all of those questions and more. Let’s get to it!
English vs Japanese Pokémon Card Manufacturing Quality
Let’s start with how Japanese and English Pokémon cards are made overall. Turns out that there are different manufacturing partners and facilities for Japanese and English Pokémon cards.
English Pokémon cards are produced by Cartamundi out of the United States and Europe.

Japanese Pokémon cards are produced out of Japan, but other information on the location or particular processes is limited.

But while this is generally true, some rarer cards are produced in entirely different facilities. Through the years and different sets that have been produced, some Japanese cards are incredibly close to English while others vary completely.
The most common school of thought though is that Japanese manufactured Pokémon cards are superior in quality to English ones. Is this true though?
Let’s take a look at some examples.
Vintage English vs Japanese Pokémon Card Comparison
We will start by reviewing Vintage cards, in this case some of the original Pokémon sets that were ever released. Can we see differences between the English and Japanese versions? Let’s see what we find!
Vintage Japanese Cards Have More Color and Sheen Than English

In looking at this first picture of a Japanese Base Set Dewgong and its English counterpart, it’s easy to see some of the differences.
The first difference we can see is that the Japanese version has more “shine” than the English. While the light reflecting on the English card is relatively blurred and flat, the Japanese version has almost a glassy reflection.
The second is that this is likely the case because of how much smoother the surface of the card is. If you look closely at both, you can see that the English has small indents all throughout the card where the Japanese version doesn’t.
Lastly, the coloring and sharpness of the image in the Japanese version is much brighter and more defined. The coloring is a much deeper blue and the bubbles look far more defined.
Score 1 for Japanese manufacturing.
Vintage Japanese Pokémon Cards Have Cleaner and Sharper Edges
Looking at the same cards from a different angle, we can see how much smoother and sharper the edges are on the Japanese card. Where the English card looks a bit thicker and rougher, the Japanese cards have a much cleaner cut on their cards.
Even though the English is cut decently well here, English Pokémon cards also have far more mis-cut and mis-shaped edges.

English Vintage Pokémon Cards Damage More Easily Than Japanese
It goes along with the point mentioned above, but because of how sharp and well-pressed Japanese cards are, vintage English Pokémon cards are more easily worn, ripped, and damaged than Japanese ones.
While this is typically a bad thing, it does mean that vintage English PSA 10s are harder to get and therefore demand a higher price. As far as manufacturing quality goes though, Japanese Pokémon cards are far superior and have held their quality far better than English cards through the years.
Let’s take a look at modern Pokémon cards.
Modern English vs Japanese Pokémon Card Comparison
While there is a pretty large disparity between card quality in English and Japanese Pokémon cards in vintage sets, there seems to be different kinds of disparities in more modern cards.
Lets review a few.
Modern Common and Uncommon Japanese and English Pokémon Cards are Very Similar
While every modern set wasn’t compared, the few comparisons that were made were surprisingly similar. For starters, the coloring and sharpness of the images between the two were seemingly identical. If you recall back to the Dewgong example, you will see that was not the case in that instance.

On top of that, the borders and thickness of the cards had no difference either. It was actually incredibly hard to tell the difference between the two based on the look, feel, and taste. That last one was a joke. I wanted to make sure you were still reading. Please don’t lick your Pokémon cards.
In looking at the edges and sheen of the card, it’s easy to see how much more alike these are than in previous generations.

So, it seems that a lot of the differences we saw in vintage cards seems to have lessened, at least in common and uncommon cards. What about if we start getting into more rare and full art cards?
Rarer Modern Japanese vs English Pokémon Cards
The rarer modern Pokémon cards get, the more that the Japanese cards separate themselves from the English ones in their quality, coloring, and holographic images. While the difference is pretty mild with V, Vstar, and regular rares, anything rarer than that starts looking a lot different.
If we start by looking at the Machamp V #72, we can see that the Japanese and English are very similar. The colors, shading, outlines, and otherwise are nearly identical. It may be hard to tell with just one picture, but that is absolutely the case here.

If we go to a Forretress ex from the Paldea Evolved set, the difference starts to show a bit more. The Japanese version has more shine where the English doesn’t. Specifically looking at the eyes, the gem, and stars in the center, the Japanese cards quality definitely starts to separate itself here.

The Rarer the Card, The Better The Japanese Version Looks vs the English One.
And for our last example, I’ll send you over to Reddit. Pdrsn94 compared an English Giratina Vstar to a Japanese one and the differences are substantial. The way that the holo shines in the Japanese version is on a whole other level to the English and it’s impossible to dispute. While I have added some pictures below, I highly suggest clicking the link above to really see the difference.

If you’d like even more, reddit user PainfullySynesthetic compared quite a few others.
I’ll end this section confirming how I started it then. It is absolutely the case that the rarer the modern Pokémon card is, the more the Japanese version stands out in its holographic patterns, shine, and overall look vs its English counterpart.
English vs Japanese Exclusive Pokémon Cards & Sets
For our next section, we will look into exclusive cards and sets among both English and Japanese cards. While most sets share both Japanese and English cards, there are quite a few that don’t.
Before we get into it, what would you guess? How many cards or sets can you name that were exclusive to either Japanese or English?
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. It simply has some of the more expensive and recognizable cards and sets that are worth calling out. If I missed any you feel should have been included, please let me know!
English Exclusive Pokémon Sets
Let’s start off with some English sets first. There are a few that are absolutely noteworthy that will be called out below. While there are certainly more than this, these were the most worth highlighting.
Legendary Collection
The Legendary Collection set is one of the most iconic Pokémon sets ever released. Its unique holographic pattern and re-use of images from other sets make this an incredibly sought after set, even today. It is also one of the most valuable Pokémon card sets of all time.
On top of that, the Legendary Collection Pokémon card set is English exclusive. You will not be able to find any Legendary Collection Pokémon in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, or otherwise at all.
Score one for English Pokémon cards.
Base Set 2
While not quite as iconic as the Legendary Collection set, the Base Set 2 was an incredibly popular set that was only released in English. And while it does have quite a few of the same cards as the Base Set, it has a good number of its own unique cards as well!
The Base Set 2 set can be identified by the 2 on the Center Right of the Pokémon card!
Call of Legends
The call of Legends set is not as popular or known as the ones mentioned above, but that doesn’t stop it from being incredibly cool.
The call of Legends set is focused around Legendary Pokémon, which means that most of the cards in the set are, you guessed it, Legendary. The Lugia above actually also makes the list of one of the most expensive Lugia cards, so there is definitely some value in this set!
And obviously as part of this portion, this set is an English exclusive set.
Let’s check out the Japanese exclusives.
Japanese Exclusive Pokémon Cards and Sets
I’ll start by saying that there are far more exclusive Japanese Pokémon cards than English. English does have some pretty cool exclusive sets, but it doesn’t touch the price and quantity of Japanese exclusives that are out in the market.
Let’s check out some of the cards and sets that are Japanese exclusive and you will see what I mean.
CD Promo



The CD Promo Pokémon card set were some of the earliest promo cards ever. Released in 1999, the Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur shown above are just a few cards from some promos that could only be obtained, surprise surprise, through a Pokémon CD.
Even today, these cards are highly sought after and highly collectible due to their unique artwork and rarity. If you are a fan of the original big 3 Pokémon, these are absolute must-haves!
CoroCoro Pokémon Cards
The CoroCoro Pokémon cards were another Japanese exclusive release. Believe it or not, the right most CoroCoro Pikachu was the first promo ever released in 1996!
The Shining Mew, also known as the CoroCoro Mew is one of the most popular and now most expensive Mews ever! Another big win for Japanese exclusives.
Japanese Pikachu Promo Cards
The Japanese Pikachu Promo Cards are some of the most popular modern cards released, and it’s not even close. Every single one of these is worth at least several hundred dollars raw and are still some of the most popular and pricey Pikachu’s ever created.
Don’t believe me? Check out the list here.
In case it needs to be stated, the Japanese Pikachu Promo cards are Japanese exclusives. Another big win for Japanese cards.
Japanese Vending Machine Masaki Promos
All of the Japanese Vending Machine series, while not as well known and popular as other sets, is unbelievably unique and interesting.
The Masaki Promos are maybe the most interesting but definitely the most valuable out of all of them. These cards (and a few others), could only be obtained as part of a Pokémon Card Fan Club promotion, where you had to mail in cards to get back the final evolution.
That made these cards incredibly hard to get and gives them impressive value to this day. Yes, another win for Japanese exclusive Pokémon cards.
And Many More…
In addition to the above, there are a large number of other Japanese exclusive Pokémon cards. Some others that were not shown above are VS Era, Web Era, Daisuki Club, and a number of other Japanese Promos.
In case you needed a definitive answer, Japanese Pokémon cards have far more expensive and valuable exclusives than English cards.
English vs Japanese Pokémon Card Values
Last but certainly not least is the value comparison of Japanese and English Pokémon cards. The value difference between the two depend completely on the amount that was printed and available, as well as the general popularity of the cards.
English Pokémon cards do tend to be more expensive than their Japanese counterpart. But while that is true most of the time, there are more than a few exceptions of it being the other way around.
Because of the quality of Japanese Pokémon cards (see above section), they do also tend to grade better, and are therefore also less expensive in graded form than English as well. Please take note that prices may have changed since this article was written.
Let’s look at a few examples.
Vintage Japanese vs. English Pokémon Card Comparison
The first few sets we will compare are Base through the Gym Challenge sets. Below will compare only the non 1st Edition English sets as most don’t have an equivalent. Even in comparing the non 1st Edition cards, we will find that English versions far out-price the Japanese versions.
The reason for this comes down to the quantity of printing, availability, and popularity. The Japanese versions of cards in these first original sets were as easy to get a hold of and ultimately were not as popular as the English versions, especially in the U.S.
Let’s compare a few cards from those sets.
As we can see, there is a pretty sizeable difference in value between the early English sets vs their Japanese counterpart. Let’s check out the Neo Pokémon sets next…
English vs. Japanese Neo Pokémon Sets Value Comparison
Where the Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, and Gym sets have a very clear value difference between their English and Japanese cards, the Neo sets have quite a bit more variation.
The Neo Genesis and Neo Discovery sets still have a vast pricing difference across the board in favor of English. The Neo Genesis English Lugia goes for ~$200 while the Japanese Lugia goes for ~$70. All other cards in both sets tell the same story.
The Neo Revelation tells a different story, but only with the Shining Gyarados and Shining Magikarp. Those two cards have a much greater cost in their Japanese form vs their English one. So much so that the Japanese Shining Magikarp even out-prices the 1st Edition English version as of writing this article!
Outside of those two cards though, the Neo Revelation cards have higher values in English than Japanese.

And finally, the Neo Destiny set is… a little all over the place. All in all though, the English and Japanese card values in Neo Destiny are incredibly close when comparing non 1st Edition English cards. Let’s look at and call out a few.
The Shining Charizard value has been all over the place, especially the Japanese version. The PSA 10 Japanese version is rarer and has a much higher value, but the raw values are incredibly close. The raw Japanese Shining Charizard has also fluctuated from $1900 in 2023 all the way down to $575 in January of 2025. The English has fluctuated from $760 to $430 in the same time period.
Some of the other Shining cards as we can see above are very mixed. The English Shining Raichu is cheaper than the Japanese version but the English Shining Mewtwo is more expensive.
To sum up then, most vintage Pokémon cards are more expensive in their English form, especially when accounting for 1st Editions. That said, it is definitely not true 100% of the time, even when just looking at these two series of cards.
Does that trend continue into later sets though? Let’s take a look!
If you’d like to search some sets between these named above and more modern cards, you can use the Bulbapedia list here that tells you the Japanese set and its English equivalent! From there, you can compare the pricing of different cards with whatever value app you like best!
English vs Japanese Evolving Skies Pokémon Value Comparison
Where vintage Pokémon cards have minor to no pricing variations, modern Pokémon card trends look more like a roller coaster. The Evolving Skies / Japanese Eevee Heroes comparison do just that and absolutely need more explanation.
The Japanese Eevee Heroes set (which I’ll just call the Japanese Evolving Skies from this point) has been more expensive than the English version since creation… until very recently.
The Japanese Evolving Skies set is still rarer and still has less population for graded cards, yet the English versions have overtaken the Japanese cards in pricing. We have seen something similar across other modern chase cards as well.
If we look at the price comparison for just the Umbreon VMAX from both sets below, you can see what I’m referring to.

The Evolving Skies set has gone against traditional rules and seems to continue to even today. Again, despite there being less Japanese cards in the market for this set, the English version is still more expensive. Add in the fact that the pricing changed despite there being no re-print for either set makes it a bit of a head scratcher.
With the release of more Eeveelutions Pokémon cards within the Prismatic Evolutions set, the best guess is that the English set is just far more popular and sought after than Japanese. That said, a lot of more modern English chase cards have blown up in value recently and have surpassed the Japanese version.
Please take note that this could have changed from when this article was written in April of 2025. As of today though, the English version once again wins in price…. for now.
English vs Japanese 151 Pokémon Value Comparison
Where the Evolving Skies value comparison is a bit more chaotic, the Japanese vs English 151 comparison is much more clean cut and explainable.
Upon release, the Japanese 151 set was more expensive than English. Part of that reason was quantity produced, but another is that the Japanese 151 set has “Poke Ball” and “Master Ball” cards where the English does not.
For a while then, the Japanese set had more value. Enter, a large Japanese re-print.
Upon the re-print, the Japanese set lost a ton of value where the English set continued to climb. The comparison for the main chase card, the Charizard EX, shows this change perfectly.

In this case, we were able to watch a large transition in pricing from Japanese and English Pokémon card values and how they change. Once re-prints stop, the values between them usually settle.
Let’s recap everything we just went through!
Summary
In case the above was too much to read, let’s do a quick recap here of all the points above
- Vintage Japanese cards are much higher quality and grade better than the English counterpart
- Modern Japanese cards are close in quality until you get to the rarest cards. Japanese printed Pokémon cards start separating themselves in quality and detail as you get to the rarest cards
- Japanese and English Pokémon cards both have cards exclusive to that language. That said, there are far more Japanese exclusive cards, some of which have far more value, than English print exclusives.
- English Pokémon cards tend to be more expensive than their Japanese counterpart. This is typically due to printing quantity and popularity. There are instances of English cards out-pricing Japanese cards despite being more abundant
- Because of Japanese printing quality, Japanese graded cards are almost never as expensive as their English graded counterpart. The main time you will find that to occasionally not be the case is older vintage cards.
When it comes to collecting Japanese vs English Pokémon cards, the choice is ultimately yours.
Hopefully you enjoyed this article and found it useful. If there is anything I missed, please send me an email at [email protected]!
Want to open some free online Pokémon packs from ANY set? You can do it here!
Have trouble identifying the original Charizard card from others? Check out how to do so here!
Want to check out some awesome Pokémon artists that you could buy from? You won’t be disappointed.
Thanks for reading!