{
  "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/japanese-151-vs-english-151",
  "slug": "japanese-151-vs-english-151",
  "title": "Japanese 151 vs English 151: Prices Compared",
  "summary": "193 cards resolve across the two languages and English is dearer 152 times, but the ratio flips by tier: 0.28 on illustration rares, 1.09 on the special art.",
  "section": "Quant research",
  "published": "2026-09-23",
  "readMinutes": 9,
  "publisher": "moonstone",
  "findings": [
    {
      "value": "193 of 207",
      "measures": "English cards with a resolved Japanese twin",
      "basis": "151 joined on number and verified by name, 42 joined inside their tier block"
    },
    {
      "value": "1.09",
      "measures": "Japanese over English, special illustration rares",
      "basis": "against 0.28 on illustration rares in the same set"
    },
    {
      "value": "$3,531.40",
      "measures": "the 153-card Master Ball parallel",
      "basis": "against $1,851.61 for all 207 cards of the English set"
    }
  ],
  "tables": [
    {
      "title": "One release, three catalog set names, 2026-09-23",
      "columns": [
        "Catalog set name",
        "Language",
        "Rows",
        "What the rows are",
        "Summed ask",
        "Median card"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Catalog set name": "[151](/set/151)",
          "Language": "English",
          "Rows": "207",
          "What the rows are": "the checklist, numbers 001 to 207",
          "Summed ask": "$1,851.61",
          "Median card": "$0.21"
        },
        {
          "Catalog set name": "ポケモンカード151",
          "Language": "Japanese",
          "Rows": "210",
          "What the rows are": "the checklist, numbers 001 to 210",
          "Summed ask": "$1,507.66",
          "Median card": "$0.17"
        },
        {
          "Catalog set name": "SV2a: Pokemon Card 151",
          "Language": "Japanese",
          "Rows": "153",
          "What the rows are": "Master Ball Pattern parallel",
          "Summed ask": "$3,531.40",
          "Median card": "$12.67"
        },
        {
          "Catalog set name": "SV2a: Pokemon Card 151",
          "Language": "Japanese",
          "Rows": "153",
          "What the rows are": "Poké Ball Pattern parallel",
          "Summed ask": "$139.90",
          "Median card": "$0.59"
        },
        {
          "Catalog set name": "SV2a: Pokemon Card 151",
          "Language": "Japanese",
          "Rows": "2",
          "What the rows are": "two plain cards, 143 and 150",
          "Summed ask": "$0.79",
          "Median card": "n/a"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Numbers 152 to 165, the block where a number join is wrong, both sides unmatched",
      "columns": [
        "No.",
        "English card",
        "English ask",
        "Japanese card at the same number",
        "Japanese ask"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "No.": "152",
          "English card": "[Antique Dome Fossil](/card/sv03.5-152)",
          "English ask": "$0.21",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "エネルギーシール",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.12"
        },
        {
          "No.": "153",
          "English card": "[Antique Helix Fossil](/card/sv03.5-153)",
          "English ask": "$0.20",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "スナッチアーム",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.10"
        },
        {
          "No.": "154",
          "English card": "[Antique Old Amber](/card/sv03.5-154)",
          "English ask": "$0.22",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "古びたかいの化石",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.10"
        },
        {
          "No.": "155",
          "English card": "[Big Air Balloon](/card/sv03.5-155)",
          "English ask": "$0.15",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "古びたこうらの化石",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.13"
        },
        {
          "No.": "156",
          "English card": "[Bill's Transfer](/card/sv03.5-156)",
          "English ask": "$0.16",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "古びたひみつのコハク",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.07"
        },
        {
          "No.": "157",
          "English card": "[Cycling Road](/card/sv03.5-157)",
          "English ask": "$0.13",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "安全ゴーグル",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.09"
        },
        {
          "No.": "158",
          "English card": "[Daisy's Help](/card/sv03.5-158)",
          "English ask": "$0.16",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "大きなふうせん",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.08"
        },
        {
          "No.": "159",
          "English card": "[Energy Sticker](/card/sv03.5-159)",
          "English ask": "$0.24",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "ガチガチバンド",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.11"
        },
        {
          "No.": "160",
          "English card": "[Erika's Invitation](/card/sv03.5-160)",
          "English ask": "$0.18",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "たべのこし",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.08"
        },
        {
          "No.": "161",
          "English card": "[Giovanni's Charisma](/card/sv03.5-161)",
          "English ask": "$0.16",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "エリカの招待",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.12"
        },
        {
          "No.": "162",
          "English card": "[Grabber](/card/sv03.5-162)",
          "English ask": "$0.22",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "サカキのカリスマ",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.12"
        },
        {
          "No.": "163",
          "English card": "[Leftovers](/card/sv03.5-163)",
          "English ask": "$0.19",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "ナナミの手助け",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.09"
        },
        {
          "No.": "164",
          "English card": "[Protective Goggles](/card/sv03.5-164)",
          "English ask": "$0.23",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "マサキの転送",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.09"
        },
        {
          "No.": "165",
          "English card": "[Rigid Band](/card/sv03.5-165)",
          "English ask": "$0.17",
          "Japanese card at the same number": "サイクリングロード",
          "Japanese ask": "$0.10"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "The secret tiers, English rarity label against the Japanese number block",
      "columns": [
        "Tier",
        "English numbers",
        "Japanese numbers",
        "English cards",
        "Japanese cards",
        "Matched",
        "Japanese-only"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Tier": "Illustration rare",
          "English numbers": "166 to 181",
          "Japanese numbers": "166 to 183",
          "English cards": "16",
          "Japanese cards": "18",
          "Matched": "16",
          "Japanese-only": "2"
        },
        {
          "Tier": "Ultra Rare",
          "English numbers": "182 to 197",
          "Japanese numbers": "184 to 199",
          "English cards": "16",
          "Japanese cards": "16",
          "Matched": "16",
          "Japanese-only": "0"
        },
        {
          "Tier": "Special illustration rare",
          "English numbers": "198 to 204",
          "Japanese numbers": "200 to 207",
          "English cards": "7",
          "Japanese cards": "8",
          "Matched": "7",
          "Japanese-only": "1"
        },
        {
          "Tier": "Hyper rare",
          "English numbers": "205 to 207",
          "Japanese numbers": "208 to 210",
          "English cards": "3",
          "Japanese cards": "3",
          "Matched": "3",
          "Japanese-only": "0"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Japanese ask against its English twin, by tier, all 193 matched pairs, 2026-09-23",
      "columns": [
        "Tier",
        "Pairs",
        "Median English",
        "Median Japanese",
        "Median JP/EN",
        "Japanese dearer",
        "English dearer",
        "Equal to the cent"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Tier": "Pokémon, numbers 001 to 151",
          "Pairs": "151",
          "Median English": "$0.18",
          "Median Japanese": "$0.15",
          "Median JP/EN": "0.778",
          "Japanese dearer": "23",
          "English dearer": "118",
          "Equal to the cent": "10"
        },
        {
          "Tier": "Illustration rare",
          "Pairs": "16",
          "Median English": "$47.21",
          "Median Japanese": "$14.67",
          "Median JP/EN": "0.280",
          "Japanese dearer": "0",
          "English dearer": "16",
          "Equal to the cent": "0"
        },
        {
          "Tier": "Ultra Rare",
          "Pairs": "16",
          "Median English": "$7.40",
          "Median Japanese": "$3.18",
          "Median JP/EN": "0.463",
          "Japanese dearer": "1",
          "English dearer": "15",
          "Equal to the cent": "0"
        },
        {
          "Tier": "Special illustration rare",
          "Pairs": "7",
          "Median English": "$88.64",
          "Median Japanese": "$94.79",
          "Median JP/EN": "1.095",
          "Japanese dearer": "5",
          "English dearer": "2",
          "Equal to the cent": "0"
        },
        {
          "Tier": "Hyper rare",
          "Pairs": "3",
          "Median English": "$5.14",
          "Median Japanese": "$4.64",
          "Median JP/EN": "1.569",
          "Japanese dearer": "2",
          "English dearer": "1",
          "Equal to the cent": "0"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Every special illustration rare and hyper rare, both languages, 2026-09-23",
      "columns": [
        "English card",
        "English ask",
        "Japanese card",
        "Japanese ask",
        "JP/EN"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "English card": "[Venusaur ex 198](/card/sv03.5-198)",
          "English ask": "$114.37",
          "Japanese card": "[フシギバナex 200](/card/ja-SV2a-200)",
          "Japanese ask": "$112.10",
          "JP/EN": "0.980"
        },
        {
          "English card": "[Charizard ex 199](/card/sv03.5-199)",
          "English ask": "$358.35",
          "Japanese card": "[リザードンex 201](/card/ja-SV2a-201)",
          "Japanese ask": "$392.37",
          "JP/EN": "1.095"
        },
        {
          "English card": "[Blastoise ex 200](/card/sv03.5-200)",
          "English ask": "$133.99",
          "Japanese card": "[カメックスex 202](/card/ja-SV2a-202)",
          "Japanese ask": "$151.20",
          "JP/EN": "1.128"
        },
        {
          "English card": "[Alakazam ex 201](/card/sv03.5-201)",
          "English ask": "$74.50",
          "Japanese card": "[フーディンex 203](/card/ja-SV2a-203)",
          "Japanese ask": "$59.19",
          "JP/EN": "0.794"
        },
        {
          "English card": "[Zapdos ex 202](/card/sv03.5-202)",
          "English ask": "$88.64",
          "Japanese card": "[サンダーex 204](/card/ja-SV2a-204)",
          "Japanese ask": "$94.79",
          "JP/EN": "1.069"
        },
        {
          "English card": "[Erika's Invitation 203](/card/sv03.5-203)",
          "English ask": "$15.17",
          "Japanese card": "[エリカの招待 206](/card/ja-SV2a-206)",
          "Japanese ask": "$32.83",
          "JP/EN": "2.164"
        },
        {
          "English card": "[Giovanni's Charisma 204](/card/sv03.5-204)",
          "English ask": "$15.09",
          "Japanese card": "[サカキのカリスマ 207](/card/ja-SV2a-207)",
          "Japanese ask": "$18.89",
          "JP/EN": "1.252"
        },
        {
          "English card": "[Mew ex 205](/card/sv03.5-205)",
          "English ask": "$27.54",
          "Japanese card": "[ミュウex 208](/card/ja-SV2a-208)",
          "Japanese ask": "$43.21",
          "JP/EN": "1.569"
        },
        {
          "English card": "[Switch 206](/card/sv03.5-206)",
          "English ask": "$2.60",
          "Japanese card": "[ポケモンいれかえ 209](/card/ja-SV2a-209)",
          "Japanese ask": "$4.08",
          "JP/EN": "1.569"
        },
        {
          "English card": "[Basic Psychic Energy 207](/card/sv03.5-207)",
          "English ask": "$5.14",
          "Japanese card": "[基本超エネルギー 210](/card/ja-SV2a-210)",
          "Japanese ask": "$4.64",
          "JP/EN": "0.903"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "The twelve dearest Master Ball Pattern cards, against the base print and the English card",
      "columns": [
        "No.",
        "Card",
        "Master Ball ask",
        "Japanese base ask",
        "English ask",
        "Master Ball multiple"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "No.": "094",
          "Card": "[Gengar](/card/jat-566791)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$670.78",
          "Japanese base ask": "$2.82",
          "English ask": "$2.83",
          "Master Ball multiple": "237.9x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "025",
          "Card": "[Pikachu](/card/jat-566726)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$238.31",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.26",
          "English ask": "$0.36",
          "Master Ball multiple": "916.6x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "149",
          "Card": "[Dragonite](/card/jat-566843)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$114.22",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.37",
          "English ask": "$1.66",
          "Master Ball multiple": "308.7x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "054",
          "Card": "[Psyduck](/card/jat-566753)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$101.55",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.23",
          "English ask": "$0.22",
          "Master Ball multiple": "441.5x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "129",
          "Card": "[Magikarp](/card/jat-566824)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$82.50",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.17",
          "English ask": "$0.17",
          "Master Ball multiple": "485.3x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "093",
          "Card": "[Haunter](/card/jat-566790)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$77.88",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.23",
          "English ask": "$0.26",
          "Master Ball multiple": "338.6x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "150",
          "Card": "[Mewtwo](/card/jat-566844)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$74.87",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.56",
          "English ask": "$2.53",
          "Master Ball multiple": "133.7x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "079",
          "Card": "[Slowpoke](/card/jat-566776)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$50.66",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.21",
          "English ask": "$0.30",
          "Master Ball multiple": "241.2x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "130",
          "Card": "[Gyarados](/card/jat-566825)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$44.83",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.35",
          "English ask": "$0.38",
          "Master Ball multiple": "128.1x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "001",
          "Card": "[Bulbasaur](/card/jat-566706)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$43.12",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.21",
          "English ask": "$0.26",
          "Master Ball multiple": "205.3x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "092",
          "Card": "[Gastly](/card/jat-566789)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$42.32",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.19",
          "English ask": "$0.22",
          "Master Ball multiple": "222.7x"
        },
        {
          "No.": "161",
          "Card": "[Erika's Invitation](/card/jat-566854)",
          "Master Ball ask": "$40.98",
          "Japanese base ask": "$0.12",
          "English ask": "not comparable",
          "Master Ball multiple": "341.5x"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "charts": [],
  "sections": [
    "The catalog holds this set three times, and the three are different things",
    "How the two checklists were joined, and where the join breaks",
    "The ladder: the same set gets dearer in Japanese as the tier rises",
    "The parallel printing that has no English side at all",
    "What this adds to the three studies that came before it",
    "What this study cannot show",
    "What would overturn it"
  ],
  "method": [
    "Population: every `cards` row in the three set names \"151\", \"ポケモンカード151\" and \"SV2a: Pokemon Card 151\" on 2026-09-23, 725 rows. Deduplicating on TCGplayer product id collapses 2 rows, both of them a plain marketplace row sharing an id with its catalog twin (jat-566495 with ja-SV2a-150, jat-566488 with ja-SV2a-143); every other row is a distinct product. Prices are asks from the daily card tape `price_history` on epoch day 20719, 2026-09-23, a complete day carrying 52,378 priced products; the partial days 20704 to 20713 are not used. Population is PRODUCTS, not catalog rows: one row per TCGplayer product id where present, else the catalog id, ties broken to the lexicographically smallest catalog id. Graded figures are SOLD medians from `graded_snapshots`, latest day per card and grade, read across both the catalog-id and the product-id keyspaces and taking the fresher row, then dropping any surviving median dated before day 20695, the first day of the current daily graded tape, and quoted only where the sample is 2 or more. PSA figures are REGISTRY LINES from `population_snapshots`, latest day per key; many products share one line, so no per-set sum of them is printed. Medians are upper-middle on even samples. The set-value series `sethist2:` is not used anywhere in this study, so a /set/ page's own \"Full Set\" figure will not match these sums: that is two instruments, not an error. JOIN RULES. Numbers 001 to 151: joined on the printed number, then verified by resolving the Japanese name through apps/web/src/server/species-ja-en.json, 1,354 entries, and comparing it with the English name after folding accents, apostrophes, the gender signs and a trailing mechanic token (ex, V, VMAX, VSTAR, GX, Star). 151 of 151 agree; none was dropped. Numbers 152 to 165: EXCLUDED, 14 cards each side, $2.62 of English ask and $1.40 of Japanese, because the two languages order the block differently and only 4 of the 14 Japanese names resolve through the dictionary. Both lists are printed above unmatched; we did not hand-map them. Numbers 166 and up: each side split into four tier blocks, the English ranges taken from the recorded `rarity` field and the Japanese ranges asserted as contiguous number ranges in the script, which throws if the species sets inside a block do not match; then joined on the resolved species name within the block. 42 of 42 English secrets matched, leaving 3 Japanese-only cards, named above. Total 193 matched pairs of 207 English cards. The Master Ball Pattern and Poké Ball Pattern parallels are excluded from every English comparison because they have no English counterpart; their own multiples are taken against the Japanese base card at the same number, and the 139-of-139 figure is restricted to numbers 001 to 151 where the English counterpart is name-verified. No Japanese set has a working page on this site, so Japanese set names here are plain prose while their CARDS are linked normally. There is no set-value series for any Japanese set and the set screen's catalog list filters to English, so both surfaces 404. We probed rather than assumed: on 2026-09-23 we fetched /set/ and /research/set-screen/ for SM-P: Sun & Moon Promos, CoroCoro Promotional Cards, SV2a: Pokemon Card 151, Expansion Pack, Pokemon VS, Split Earth and 金、銀、新世界へ..., and read the title back on each; all 404. One spelling is worse than a 404: `/set/ポケモンカード151` and `/research/set-screen/ポケモンカード151` both return 200 and render the ENGLISH 151 set, because the slug normaliser strips non-ASCII characters and leaves the string \"151\". Neither is linked from this study. Report: the wrong-set resolve at that spelling is a defect on our side, not a property of the data. Related studies: [the Japanese price flip](/articles/the-japanese-price-flip), [the flatter ladder](/articles/the-flatter-ladder), [the same card two oceans apart](/articles/same-card-two-oceans), [Japanese vs English Pokemon cards](/articles/japanese-vs-english-pokemon-cards), [Alakazam ex 151 value](/articles/alakazam-ex-151-value), and the two Japanese censuses beside this one, [Japanese promo card prices](/articles/japanese-promo-card-prices) and [vintage Japanese Pokemon card prices](/articles/vintage-japanese-pokemon-card-prices)."
  ],
  "terms": "Figures are moonstone's own recorded measurements, dated as published. Quote them with the population stated beside them. The article at `url` is the human form of this file."
}