All the JR Pokémon Cards: 19 Railway Promos, 1997-2025

20 cards

Three JR railway companies have given out nineteen Pokémon cards since 1997, all at stamp rallies and train events: eleven from JR East, one from JR West, six from JR Hokkaido, and one Turtwig that all three handed out in 2008. None was sold. The most recent is a jumbo Pikachu ex from JR East's rally of summer 2025; the 2026 rally gave stickers and goods, not a card.

Recorded sales are thin: as of September 24, 2026, the site has sales for two of the nineteen, the Pichu of 2002 and the 2008 Turtwig, which sells for $10.02 ungraded (6 real completed sales). A 2014 Pikachu often filed with them, the POKÉMON with YOU wagon card, is not a railway card (see the end of this page).

The nineteen cards, rally by rally

Prices from real completed sales of Japanese copies, as of September 24, 2026; ungraded unless a grade is named. "No sale recorded" means the site has not logged a sale of that card yet.

1997: thirty stations for a Surfing Pikachu

JR East's first Pokémon Stamp Rally ran from August 9 to 17, 1997, at thirty stations in Tokyo's 23 wards. Taking part required the Pokémon Rally Ticket, ¥2,000 for adults and half that for children, good for two consecutive days on local trains within the 23 wards; it was sold from July 25 to August 16, 1997, and capped at 100,000 participants. Ten stamps earned a Pokémon Trainer certificate; all thirty earned the cards, handed out at the "Pokémon Gym" counters of Tokyo, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Ueno and Shinagawa stations, all on the Yamanote Line.

The prize was a pair mounted together on one holder: a Surfing Pikachu (level 13) and a level 8 Mew, both on plain card stock where the CoroCoro prints of 1997 are glossy. The Surfing Pikachu's art exists only on this print, hence its nickname, the Mt. Fuji Surfing Pikachu: Mount Fuji with its snow cap on the left and, on the right, the nose of a white Shinkansen with a green band, the colors of the 200 series that JR East ran at the time. The CoroCoro, English and later prints of Surfing Pikachu show neither the mountain nor the train. The Mew is Ken Sugimori's familiar picture of Mew on a mossy rock.

Surfing Pikachu (JR Train Rally 1997)Mew (JR Train Rally 1997)

2000: English cards at Japanese stations

JR East's 2000 rally, from August 1 to 20 and tied to that summer's third Pokémon movie (Spell of the Unown in English), had two courses: the gold course gave an Eevee, the silver course a Mewtwo. JR West ran its own rally on weekends and holidays from July 20 to August 27, 2000, rewarded with a Meowth.

All three are English cards: Wizards of the Coast Black Star promos, printed "©1999-2000 Wizards", Meowth No. 10, Eevee No. 11 and Mewtwo No. 12. The JR copies of Meowth and Eevee are non-holo, unlike the holo Meowth that came with the English Game Boy game.

Eevee (JR East Stamp Rally 2000)Mewtwo (JR East Stamp Rally 2000)Meowth (JR West Stamp Rally 2000)

2002: six cards that form a loop

From August 3 to 18, 2002, the Pokémon Happy Adventure Rally on JR East's Yamanote Line handed out six cards, 042/P to 047/P, all illustrated by Midori Harada, one at each booth:

Each card has an attack or a power whose name contains リンク, link, and its link effect works only while one other card of the six is on your Bench: Celebi's Para-Link needs Pikachu, Pikachu's Smash Link needs Mewtwo, Mewtwo's Link Charge needs Entei, Entei's Link Up needs Lugia, Lugia's Link Flow needs Pichu, and Pichu's Heal Link needs Celebi. The six close a loop, so the set only plays fully once complete, and completing it meant going around the Yamanote Line.

They are Pokémon Card e cards, with dot-code strips for the Game Boy Advance e-Reader, and none carries a JR logo. Pikachu 044/P is a reprint, with slightly different art, of Pikachu 038/P, the orienteering prize of Pokémon Festa 2002: check the number.

Celebi#42/PEntei#43/PPikachu#44/PPichu#45/PMewtwo#46/PLugia#47/P

2008: Turtwig, one card of thirteen

Turtwig 117/DP-P was the stamp rally card of the Collection Challenge, a summer 2008 campaign of thirteen cards given through films, magazines, shops and events. It went to players who completed the summer 2008 Pokémon stamp rallies of JR East, JR West and JR Hokkaido, and those of the private Meitetsu railway around Nagoya and the Fukuoka City Subway: five regional rallies in all. The same card is English POP Series 9 17/17; Uniqlo's card from the same campaign is in our Uniqlo guide.

Turtwig#117/DP-P

2011: JR Hokkaido's Battle Train and Survey Team

In 2011, JR Hokkaido replaced the summer Pokémon stamp rally it had run since 2008 with two events around Sapporo, both from July 30 to August 21, 2011, both for holders of its one-day pass (一日散歩きっぷ).

• Pokémon Battle Train 2011. Players brought a Nintendo DS with Pokémon Black or White, advanced to Nimbasa City with at least four Pokémon, received a Battle Test at the starting station, took it on board, and showed the result at Sapporo Station. Each route gave one card: Tepig on the Victini route from New Chitose Airport (July 30 to August 5), Snivy on the Reshiram route from Iwamizawa (August 6 to 12), Oshawott on the Zekrom route from Otaru (August 13 to 21).
• Pokémon Survey Team 2011. Players hunted for Pokémon hidden at fifteen stations with a survey notebook and stickers. Four stations earned a jumbo Victini, all fifteen a jumbo Reshiram and a jumbo Zekrom.

The Battle Train cards reuse Ken Sugimori's Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott from the Journey Partners set of September 2010, art also printed on the English McDonald's Collection 2011 cards 1, 3 and 4/12 (see our McDonald's catalog): it was not drawn for the railway. What they add is the badge at the bottom right of the art: the logo of the Pokémon Battle Train itself, with Reshiram, Zekrom and Victini. The three jumbos print the boxed JR mark with JR北海道 (JR Hokkaido) in the text area, and a train runs through the background of all three.

Snivy#78/BW-PTepig#79/BW-POshawott#80/BW-P

Victini (JR Hokkaido Pokemon Survey Team 2011)Reshiram (JR Hokkaido Pokemon Survey Team 2011)Zekrom (JR Hokkaido Pokemon Survey Team 2011)

2025: the jumbo Pikachu ex

JR East's Pokémon Mega Stamp Rally 2025 ran from July 18 to August 31, 2025, at 36 stations around Tokyo (35 of JR East's and one on the Tokyo Monorail) plus six Shinkansen stations. Stamping any six of the 36 earned the first prize, a jumbo Pikachu ex, handed over at NewDays shops in the stations; the other courses gave a Frienda arcade pick (12 stations), a key ring (all 36) and a medal (one Shinkansen station). Entry was free with any train ticket or Suica card.

The jumbo reuses the art and attacks of Pikachu ex 038/175 from the Generations Start Decks of November 2024, at 190 HP, with the rally logo printed inside the illustration; the slot before its SV-P mark carries no number.

Pikachu ex (JR East Pokemon Mega Stamp Rally 2025)

JR East's 2026 rally, from July 16 to August 31, 2026, gave no card: a ticket-style sticker and a Frienda pick for six stations, then a neck strap, a key holder and a medal. Most of JR East's summer rallies since 1997 gave goods rather than cards; the card years are the ones in the table.

Not a railway card: the POKÉMON with YOU wagon

A 2014 Pikachu often filed with the JR cards belongs to none of them. Its text reads 「POKÉMON with YOUワゴンは東北のみんなに笑顔をとどけるとっても楽しい車だよ！」, "the POKÉMON with YOU wagon is a very fun car that brings smiles to everyone in Tōhoku", and its art shows that car: a road van, a Toyota HiAce that toured Tōhoku from 2012 for The Pokémon Company's relief program (our Toyota guide covers the carmaker's own cards). The POKÉMON with YOU Train, which JR East has run between Ichinoseki and Kesennuma since December 22, 2012, with trips scheduled into November 2026, has no card of its own.

Pikachu (POKeMON with YOU Wagon giveaway 2014)

Finding them today

All nineteen trade second-hand only, in Japanese card shops and on auction sites; from abroad, a proxy service can buy and forward them, as our guide to buying Japanese cards from abroad explains. Before buying, check what sets each card apart: the Mt. Fuji art and plain stock of the 1997 Surfing Pikachu, the non-holo finish of a JR Meowth or Eevee, the number 044/P on the 2002 Pikachu, the Battle Train badge on the 2011 starters and the JR mark on the jumbos.

FAQ

How many JR Pokémon cards are there?

Nineteen: eleven from JR East (1997, 2000, 2002 and 2025), one from JR West (2000), six from JR Hokkaido (2011), and Turtwig 117/DP-P, which all three gave at their 2008 rallies. The 2014 POKÉMON with YOU wagon Pikachu is not a railway card.

What is the Mt. Fuji Surfing Pikachu?

The Surfing Pikachu of JR East's first Pokémon Stamp Rally, August 9 to 17, 1997, given with a Mew for stamping all thirty stations. Its art adds Mount Fuji and a Shinkansen nose to the surfing Pikachu, and it is printed on plain, not glossy, card stock.

Did the 2026 JR East Pokémon Stamp Rally give a card?

No. The 2026 rally (July 16 to August 31, 2026) gave a sticker, a Frienda arcade pick, a neck strap, a key holder and a Shinkansen medal. The latest railway card is the jumbo Pikachu ex of the 2025 rally.

Are the 2000 JR rally cards Japanese or English?

English. JR East's Eevee and Mewtwo and JR West's Meowth are Wizards of the Coast Black Star promos 11, 12 and 10, printed ©1999-2000 Wizards and handed out at Japanese stations; the JR Eevee and Meowth are non-holo.

More Japanese promo series: ANA, Japan Post, Toyota and, for a trip to Japan, Pokémon in Tokyo.