A trading card store in Gifu, known for its Pokémon and One Piece collections, revealed on July 23 that it fell victim to a robbery the night before. In a statement on X, the shop disclosed that intruders broke in during late hours, leaving a significant portion of its inventory missing.
Unable to identify the perpetrator through surveillance footage alone, the shop’s manager turned to X to gather more clues about the suspect. In an unconventional approach, the store announced a 1 million yen (approximately $6.1k USD) reward for anyone who could “capture and return the robber alive.” Furthermore, individuals with useful information about the culprit can receive a 50k yen (about $305 USD) reward for their tip.
The announcement quickly gained traction among Japanese netizens, largely due to the substantial reward offered, with many finding the phrasing of the post amusing. Given that the shop also buys trading cards, some users humorously inquired about the price if the culprit was “in a damaged state.” Fortunately, the shop’s management clarified that the 1 million yen reward remains unchanged as long as the suspect is alive.
As the value of Pokémon and One Piece trading cards continues to rise annually, such incidents have become increasingly frequent in Japan, with resellers targeting rare and high-value cards. Last year, in a peculiar incident, a Pokémon card shop owner was implicated in stealing around $90k worth of cards from a neighboring shop. More recently, two thieves in Tokyo made off with roughly $213k worth of Pokémon cards, earning about $34k from reselling some of the stolen items before being apprehended.