Card Shop Masters, a local card store (LCS) in Kasamatsu, was robbed of 123 Pokémon TCG cards cumulatively worth around 13.7 million JPY (~US$92,200) on 14 June 2025. However, the biggest twist in the incident came more recently; on 9 July, Yūji Watanabe, 35, was one of three arrested in conjunction with the incident. Watanabe is the manager of Toreca Junky, another LCS located in Gifu about 3km from Card Shop Masters.

Watanabe is accused of conspiring with Keiji Ando, 34, and Naoto Sakaguchi, 36, to threaten the store owner and others at knifepoint. All three have also been charged with robbery; Ando has also been charged with trespassing.

According to local police, Sakaguchi pretended to be a store customer who appeared to be threatened by Ando before all three involved committed the robbery.

The Card Shop Masters owner made a post on Twitter about the incident in hopes of garnering additional information from the general public. To his astonishment, the post ended up going viral as many in the community were left dumbfounded about how at least one of the perpetrators was himself from another LCS in the area.

In other TCG-related news, check out the Corrida Coliseum card from Kingdoms of Intrigue [OP-04]. Alternatively, you can also head over to the SNKRDUNK App via the banner below and find the top trending and latest single cards and boxes.

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