BODY: Buying Pokémon cards in Japan is about to require proving you are a real person — with your government-issued My Number card. Pokémon has announced that starting in August, it will begin adopting the Digital Agency's official "Digital Authentication App" for Pokémon Card Game sales, beginning with lottery-based drawings on Pokémon Center Online.
The Digital Authentication App (デジタル認証アプリ) is a smartphone tool from Japan's Digital Agency that verifies a user's identity by reading the IC chip in their My Number card, the national ID card issued to residents. Rather than building its own verification system, Pokémon is plugging into public infrastructure — a notable choice for a private entertainment company.
The immediate target is the Pokémon Trading Card Game, which has become one of the hottest — and most heavily scalped — collectible markets in Japan. Booster boxes and lottery-only products routinely sell out in minutes, only to reappear on resale sites at multiples of retail. By tying each lottery entry to a verified individual, Pokémon aims to stop buyers from stacking dozens of accounts to corner limited stock.
Pokémon says the authentication requirement won't stop at online drawings. The company signaled it plans to expand "Digital Authentication App" adoption to product sales and events more broadly, hinting at in-person purchase gating and entry checks at official events down the line.
The insider take
From Tokyo, this is a milestone worth watching. My Number adoption has been politically fraught and unevenly embraced by the public, so a beloved brand like Pokémon effectively nudging millions of fans to activate their cards for identity checks is a quiet win for the Digital Agency's broader push. For collectors, it's a double-edged sword: genuine fans should see fairer odds on coveted drops, but anyone without an active My Number card — including many overseas buyers and reseller networks — gets shut out. Expect other Japanese IP giants to study how smoothly this rollout goes before copying it.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).