Japan ruling party lawmakers form group to promote trading card industry
TOKYO - Lawmakers from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party have launched a group aimed at promoting the rapidly growing trading card industry, seeing its potential as a globally competitive content sector.
The group, consisting of some 20 lawmakers, is seeking to improve the trading card environment by setting up rules to address issues such as counterfeit cards and bulk purchases for resale. The group is also keen to enhance market transparency to support the industry's overseas expansion.
The popularity of trading cards featuring characters from popular Japanese game, anime and manga series such as "Pokemon" and "Yu-Gi-Oh!" has expanded beyond Japan to international fans in recent years.
At its inaugural meeting held in parliament in late July, House of Representatives member Seiji Kihara, who was named the group's chairman, said that the trading card industry "can compete globally," stressing the importance of fostering a "healthy market."
The former LDP election strategy chief, whose elementary school-age son collects trading cards, added that tournaments and events are held across Japan, highlighting the important role the trading card industry plays in promoting regional development.
Representatives from industrial bodies and officials of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry briefed participants at the meeting about market conditions and challenges facing the sector.
According to the Japan Toy Association, the domestic trading card market reached about 338 billion yen ($2.1 billion) in fiscal 2025, which began in April of that year. It has grown continually since fiscal 2017, when its size was around 88 billion yen.
The lawmaker group said the growing asset value of trading cards has led to problems including an increase in counterfeits, fraudulent sales and the use of card transactions for money laundering.
The group said there is now a need to establish an industry-wide framework as efforts to improve trading practices have so far largely been left to individual retailers and collectors.
