A Pokémon Card Vending Machine at Ogikubo Station, Tokyo

In Japan, vending machines do not only sell drinks. In the underground passage of Ogikubo Station in western Tokyo, there is one that sells Pokémon cards.

It is called the Pokémon Card Stand, and it is an official machine. The Pokémon Company lists it on its own website, and the seller’s name printed on the machine is The Pokémon Company. What comes out is a genuine pack, at the suggested retail price.

I would like to be honest from the start, though. When I visited, every pack on the screen was sold out. So please read this as “a place where you may be lucky”, not “a place where you can always buy”.

Where It Is

The machine stands in the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line side of Ogikubo Station, in the underground passage that leads to the JR Chūō Line. It is outside the ticket gates, so you do not need a train ticket to use it.

Look for the Tokyo Metro station office and lost property counter. The machine is diagonally across the passage from it, under the signs for the JR Chūō Line (Rapid) and the Chūō-Sōbu Line. The photo at the top of this page shows the spot.

Ogikubo is the western end of the Marunouchi Line, and it is also a stop on the JR Chūō Line, about 10 to 15 minutes from Shinjuku.

What It Sells, and for How Much

The machine has a touch screen. When I visited, it offered five Japanese booster packs from the current Mega series, each sold as a set of two packs.

• Four of them: 360 yen for two packs (180 yen a pack)
• Abyss Eye: 400 yen for two packs (200 yen a pack)

I checked these against the official product pages. Inferno X, for example, has a suggested retail price of 180 yen a pack, and Abyss Eye sells at 6,000 yen for a box of 30 packs, which is 200 yen a pack. The machine charges exactly the suggested retail price, nothing more.

And there is the honest part. Every one of the five was marked sold out (売り切れ). A sticker on the side of the machine said that you can now buy several sets at once, and sometimes you see someone buying in bulk. Popular packs go quickly.

Please also note that these are Japanese-language cards. For collectors this is often the point, but if you play the game in English, the card text will be in Japanese.

How to Pay

• Transit IC cards such as Suica and PASMO — the reader is on the left of the panel
• 1,000-yen notes only. There is no slot for 5,000 or 10,000-yen notes
• Coins: 500, 100, 50 and 10 yen

The machine asks you to choose the pack first and then insert your coins, slowly, so they do not jam. A notice on the side asks people not to ask nearby shops for change. If you only have large notes, the easiest answer is an IC card.

Please Be Considerate

This is a busy station passage, not a shop. A notice under the screen, in Japanese, English and Chinese, asks: if someone is waiting in line, please take turns after one purchase.

• Wait to one side so that you do not block the passage. There is a tactile paving strip for visually impaired people right next to the machine
• Open your packs somewhere else, not in front of the machine
• Take the empty wrappers with you

Opening Hours

Pokémon’s official page says the hours follow those of the facility where the machine is installed. In other words, you can use it only while the station passage is open. It also says that locations and products may change without notice, and that items can sell out.

Other Pokémon Card Stands in Tokyo

According to the official list (updated 3 August 2026), there are Pokémon Card Stands at these places in Tokyo as well. Some are inside the ticket gates or on the platform, where you need a train ticket.

• Tokyo Metro: Hanzōmon Station, Suitengūmae Station
• Metro M Kōrakuen 1F (a shopping building connected to the station)
• Tōbu Ikebukuro Station: B1F Orange Road, and B1F in front of AZLM TOBU
• Tōbu: Kita-Senju Station 2F (inside the north ticket gates), Takenotsuka Station (inside the gates)
• Seibu: Nerima Station 1F, Fujimidai Station (inside the gates), Kokubunji Station (inside the gates), Akitsu Station (on the platform)
• Keikyū: Kamata Station (on the platform)

At Haneda and Narita airports, the same list shows Pokémon Stand machines, a separate type that sells Pokémon Center original goods rather than cards. Locations change, so please check the official page before making a special trip.

Not Only Drinks: A Character Charm Machine

At another Tokyo Metro station, I found a light-blue vending machine that sells small character charms and figures at around 300 to 500 yen each. The panel at the bottom advertised Tokyo Metro “Tsunagaru Charm”, line-colour charms that link together, marked as sold only in these machines. You pay with a PASMO or other IC card.

It stands right next to an ordinary drinks machine, which is rather typical of Japan. If you walk the Tokyo Metro passages slowly, you may find one of your own.

If the Machine Is Sold Out

The newest set, 30th CELEBRATION, went on sale on 16 September 2026 for Pokémon’s 30th anniversary. According to the official site, the suggested retail price is 360 yen a pack, with six holo cards in each pack.

Please be careful if you buy it online. Right after a release, many shops sell it well above the suggested retail price, sometimes several times higher. Before you buy, compare the price with 360 yen a pack. The cards are Japanese-language, and Amazon Japan and Rakuten can deliver to your hotel if the hotel agrees to receive the parcel.

Practical Information

• Name: Pokémon Card Stand (ポケモンカードスタンド), Tokyo Metro Ogikubo Station
• Location: underground passage of the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, Ogikubo Station, towards the JR transfer; outside the ticket gates, diagonally across from the station office and lost property counter
• Hours: follow the hours of the station
• Price: the suggested retail price (360 or 400 yen for a two-pack set when I visited)
• Payment: transit IC cards, 1,000-yen notes, coins
• Official page: Pokémon Stand / Pokémon Card Stand (shop.pokemon.co.jp, in Japanese)

Products, prices and locations can change. Please check the official page before visiting.

Who Is This For?

Pokémon fans who would like genuine Japanese packs at the price printed by the maker, and anyone who enjoys the small surprises of Japanese vending machines.

Please do not plan a whole day around it. It is often sold out. But if you are passing through Ogikubo anyway, it is worth the short detour to the passage, just in case.

→ Also near Ogikubo: Bistro Fève: Honest French Cooking Hidden in Nishi-Ogikubo

Note: This information is as of September 2026. Products, prices, locations and hours are set by the operator and can change without notice. Please follow the notices on the machine and give way to other passengers in the passage.

Pokémon and the Pokémon Trading Card Game: ©Pokémon ©Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc.

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