How many packs are in a Japanese booster box?
A standard Japanese Pokémon booster box holds 30 packs of 5 cards. Some sets differ. High Class Pack boxes, such as Terastal Festival ex or Mega Dream ex, hold 10 packs of 10 cards, and Pokémon Card 151 holds 20 packs of 7. A Japanese One Piece Card Game box holds 24 packs of 6 cards.
English boxes hold more packs, but a Japanese box costs less, so the price per pack is what to compare. The table below works it out for the Japanese boxes we stock today.
Japanese booster box contents by type
| Box type | Packs per box | Cards per pack | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expansion pack (拡張パック) | 30 | 5 | Inferno X, Battle Partners, Nihil Zero |
| High Class Pack (ハイクラスパック) | 10 | 10 | Terastal Festival ex, Mega Dream ex, Shiny Treasure ex |
| Pokémon Card 151 (SV2a) | 20 | 7 | Pokémon Card 151 |
| One Piece booster (OP, EB) | 24 | 6 | OP13 Inherited Will, EB02 Anime 25th Collection |
Not every set follows these formats. Black Bolt, White Flare and 30th Celebration have their own pack counts, and subset sets (強化拡張パック) such as Night Wanderer or Crimson Haze vary by set, so check the listing for that box. Where we have not confirmed a box's format, the table below says "varies".
Price per pack: Japanese Pokémon boxes in stock
| Box | Packs × cards | Box price | Per pack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storm Emeralda (M6) | varies | ¥12,280 | — |
| 30th Celebration (M6a) | varies | ¥29,780 | — |
| Abyss Eye (M5) | varies | ¥10,530 | — |
| Nihil Zero (M3) | 30 × 5 | ¥10,420 | ¥347 |
| Mega Dream ex (M2a) | 10 × 10 | ¥14,770 | ¥1,477 |
| Mega Symphonia (M1S) | 30 × 5 | ¥9,520 | ¥317 |
| Mega Brave (M1L) | 30 × 5 | ¥9,750 | ¥325 |
| White Flare (SV11W) | varies | ¥24,490 | — |
| Black Bolt (SV11B) | varies | ¥27,400 | — |
| Battle Partners (SV9) | 30 × 5 | ¥14,010 | ¥467 |
| Terastal Festival ex (SV8a) | 10 × 10 | ¥23,080 | ¥2,308 |
| Stellar Miracle (SV7) | 30 × 5 | ¥14,660 | ¥489 |
| Night Wanderer (SV6a) | varies | ¥14,660 | — |
| Mask of Change (SV6) | 30 × 5 | ¥16,060 | ¥535 |
Japanese One Piece booster boxes: 24 packs
Japanese One Piece Card Game boxes, main OP sets and EB extra boosters, hold 24 packs of 6 cards. English One Piece packs carry more cards each, so compare by price per pack and by the cards you are chasing.
| Box | Packs × cards | Box price | Per pack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egghead Crisis (EB04) | 24 × 6 | ¥14,550 | ¥606 |
| Heroines Edition (EB03) | 24 × 6 | ¥15,310 | ¥638 |
| Anime 25th Collection (EB02) | 24 × 6 | ¥33,340 | ¥1,389 |
| Memorial Collection (EB01) | 24 × 6 | ¥19,300 | ¥804 |
| Clash of the Greats (OP16) | 24 × 6 | ¥11,090 | ¥462 |
| Adventure in the Land of Gods (OP15) | 24 × 6 | ¥9,970 | ¥415 |
| Defenders of the Azure Sea (OP14) | 24 × 6 | ¥10,760 | ¥448 |
| Inherited Will (OP13) | 24 × 6 | ¥20,060 | ¥836 |
Japanese vs English booster boxes
| Japanese Pokémon box | English Pokémon box | |
|---|---|---|
| Packs per box | 30 (10 for High Class Packs) | 36 |
| Cards per pack | 5 (10 for High Class Packs) | 10 |
| Release | First, often months earlier | Later, sometimes combining two Japanese sets |
| Box price | Japanese retail and market price | Usually higher per box |
Guaranteed hits and pull rates
The Pokémon Company does not publish pull rates for Japanese boxes, and the mix of rares in a box is not guaranteed. Treat any seller's "guaranteed hits" claim with care, and judge a box by its price and the singles you want from the set. Every set page lists the singles we stock, so you can price the chase cards directly: start from the Japanese set list.
Buying a Japanese booster box: 3 steps
- Check the box type: a High Class Pack box has a third as many packs as an expansion box.
- Compare the price per pack, plus shipping, with the English box you would otherwise buy.
- Buy factory-sealed boxes from a seller who names the source. Ours come from Japanese distributors in their original shrink: see Japanese Pokémon booster boxes.