July 20, 2026, was the release date of Itajaga Dragon Ball Vol. 10.

For anyone unfamiliar with Itajaga, it is a Japanese snack product that includes one collectible card.

The snack is made from corn grits formed into a thin, crispy sheet, and the retail price is only ¥155 approximately €0.84.

Dragon Ball currently has several different card-related product lines in Japan. These include the Dragon Ball Super Card Game, the Super Divers arcade cards, and the Itajaga collectible card series.

Personally, I think some of the Itajaga designs are more visually impressive than many standard trading cards.

The higher-rarity cards feature holographic finishes and foil stamping, and some cards from previous series now sell for surprisingly high prices.

Vol. 10 includes rare cards as well as special Concept Rare cards. The designs featuring young Goku have already attracted considerable attention.

Although the original retail price is only ¥155 (€0.84), many of the desirable cards are already trading in the Japanese market for ¥500 (€2.70) or more.

That means some cards are worth more than 3.2 times the original purchase price, representing an increase of approximately 223%.

The prices may be even higher on overseas platforms such as eBay.

For collectors, investors, and people visiting Japan, Itajaga can therefore be an interesting product to look for.

You usually do not need to visit a specialist card shop. Because it is officially sold as a snack, it may be found in supermarkets, convenience stores, and other shops that sell confectionery.

That is one of the enjoyable things about collecting in Japan.

Valuable or interesting cards are not always hidden inside specialist hobby stores. Sometimes they are sitting on a supermarket shelf next to ordinary snacks.

Japan also has many large commercial centres containing supermarkets, restaurants, shops, and amusement arcades.

Inside these arcades, you can find card-based games connected to series such as Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer, and other popular franchises.

You can play the game, but it is also possible to purchase a card directly from the machine.

One play usually costs ¥100 approximately €0.54 and the machine dispenses one card.

Some of the rare cards obtained from these machines can be worth more than ¥30,000, or approximately €162. I have heard that the highest-rarity cards may appear at a rate of around one in every 200 cards, although the exact rates can vary.

However, I do not usually buy products such as Itajaga simply to resell them.

I often purchase them as small gifts for customers.

When I ship an order, I may include an Itajaga card, a ONE PIECE pack, a Pokémon item, or another small Japanese product inside the parcel.

Of course, the same product is not always available, so the gift depends on the timing and what I can find locally.

It is only a small gesture, but I like the idea that opening a parcel from Japan should feel a little more exciting than simply receiving the item that was ordered.

Why Communication Matters More Than the Lowest Price

After the evening begins, I usually spend time having dinner with my family and looking after my children.

For a while, I step away from my computer and smartphone.

Then, from around 9:00 p.m., I begin checking new releases, sourcing products, following market movements, and responding to customers again.

Between these tasks, I also update my Instagram and write articles for this blog.

A full blog article like this can take around two hours to write properly.

I often have much more that I would like to say, but it is not always easy to find two uninterrupted hours. That is why my blog may sometimes become quiet.

Instagram is easier to update quickly, and I believe it is important to share information from inside Japan while it is still useful.

Overseas websites may already provide card lists and basic product details, but they cannot always explain what is actually happening in the Japanese market.

Availability may be affected by lotteries, purchase limits, identification requirements, regional differences, or sudden changes in local demand.

My purpose is not simply to announce that a product exists.

I want my customers to understand why a price is moving, how difficult an item is to obtain, and whether buying immediately is truly necessary.

Information can attract customers, but my business is not built around information alone.

It is built around relationships.

Unfortunately, I have seen sellers claiming to be Japanese when they are not. I have also seen sellers use other people’s photographs, claim to possess stock they do not actually own, or advertise enormous piles of ONE PIECE products using misleading or artificially generated images.

Some buyers focus only on the lowest price and do not realise something is wrong until a problem occurs.

I believe many overseas buyers were misled by suspicious offers involving the ROUND1 ONE PIECE packs.

This is exactly why we prefer direct transactions based on communication, confirmation, and trust.

Price is important, of course. However, safety and peace of mind are equally important—especially when a customer is purchasing expensive or difficult-to-replace collectibles.

It sometimes feels as though someone in our household is speaking with a customer on WhatsApp almost 24 hours a day.

Please do not worry—we do sleep. 🙂

Sending More Than Trading Cards

People who have visited Japan will already know that this country has many distinctive products.

Convenience stores, supermarkets, sneaker shops, kitchenware stores, arcades, and even ordinary local shops often contain things that are difficult to find elsewhere.

Because I am Japanese, much of this feels normal to me.

But overseas customers frequently surprise me by asking:

“What is that product?”

“Can Japanese people really buy that in an ordinary supermarket?”

“Could you send one with my cards?”

I have even received requests to purchase approximately ¥5,000 (€27) worth of Japanese snacks and include them with an order.

I do not see every interaction as nothing more than business.

By speaking directly with customers, I learn about their countries, their hobbies, and the products they enjoy. I also improve my understanding of languages and cultures outside Japan.

If I operated entirely through a large marketplace such as eBay or Amazon, the work might be simpler.

I could list products, pack orders, ship them, and repeat the same process every day.

I would not need a blog, Instagram, or long WhatsApp conversations.

It would probably be easier.

But honestly, it would also be boring. 🙂

Instagram and this blog may not reveal the true scale of our operation.

People may wonder how many items we handle or how many parcels we send internationally. In reality, I believe we ship a considerable volume of Japanese cards and collectibles to customers around the world.

However, our style is very different from sellers who simply photograph a wall of sealed boxes and attach a price.

A typical conversation with us is rarely:

“How much is this ONE PIECE box?”

“€xxx.”

That is not enough information.

What condition is the box in?

Is the shrink wrap clean?

Are there dents, tears, or other imperfections?

For single cards, is the customer concerned about scratches, surface condition, whitening, or centring?

Some customers want the cleanest possible example. Others are happy to accept minor damage if the card is rare and the price is appropriate.

Collectors of older Pokémon cards, for example, sometimes ask me to search for cards that may have small scratches or dents because they value the artwork or history more than perfect condition.

The important question is not simply:

“What product do you want?”

It is:

“What kind of item would make you happy?”

By understanding that through conversation, I can search for something that genuinely matches the customer’s collection, budget, and expectations.

I do not believe that the lowest price builds long-term relationships.

Trust does.

I do not think I am simply exporting trading cards.

Every parcel carries a small piece of Japan.

Sometimes it is a rare card.

Sometimes it is a local snack.

Sometimes it is useful information.

And sometimes it is simply a conversation between people living far apart.

That is the kind of business I want to continue building.

By the way, this blog took me approximately two hours to write.

Thank you very much for reading.

For enquiries or orders, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you,
Shinobu🇯🇵