If you are looking for one of the best TCG shops dealing in Pokemon or MTG cards, visit the Girafull Trading Card Game shop in Osaka, just outside the main Namba train station. You will be mesmerised by how huge this place is.
I stopped playing Magic: The Gathering in 1999; therefore, I was just curious when I passed by in August 2023. It’s hard not to walk into a card game shop, and seeing Girafull was like a magnet pulling me in.
Girafull Trading Card Game Shop in Osaka
Girafull opened in May 2023, becoming Osaka’s largest card game shop. They occupy and entire building, which is eight floors, but the top two are used for the main office. So, in actuality, there are six floors of card games, each dedicated to one game.
The good news is that some of the staff at Girafull speak decent English, enough to get around. You need to ask the staff which people can speak English. When I walked in, I was a tourist looking around, but I asked one Japanese boy about MTG.
He could barely speak English, so he brought me to the counter where another boy could speak basic English and told me that on that day, the Magic: The Gathering floor was closed, so it was just my luck. Anyway, let me share the six floors of pure card ecstasy after the two photos.
Girafull Trading Card Shop
- 1st Floor – In Japan, the first floor is the ground floor, the main entrance where you walk in. Here, you can find all the sealed products, like booster packs from various card games. And in the glass casings, you will see a ton of Pokemon Trading Cards from various series. I looked, and some of the Pokemon cards are expensive.
- 2nd Floor—This is the Girafull buying centre, where you bring in your cards to sell to them. I did not visit this floor, but it seems that if they can do this, it means that there is a huge market for buying and selling cards in Japan.
- 3rd Floor—The Magic: The Gathering (MTG) floor was closed when I visited. This is where they display all the MTG cards for sale, including a Black Lotus! They have an MTG playing area with around 300 players in one section, so you can imagine a tournament being held here. I need to come back again to check this place out.
- 4th Floor – A play space for the Bushiroad products, which includes TCG like Vanguard, Weiss Schwarz, Rebirth and Shadowverse Evolve. So, if you’re interested in those TCGs, you need to visit this floor.
- 5th Floor – This is just a random TCG play space floor with no other information. I guess if there is a massive tournament going on, they will utilise this floor as well. But I suspect they play Flesh & Blood here too.
- 6th Floor – YuGiOh fans, this is the floor to visit, a whole section dedicated to the YuGiOh TCG. It’s too bad I’m not a fan of this series.
- 7th Floor – Girafull Office
- 8th Floor – Girafull Office
*Take Note: If you are a serious collector, you should bring cash (Japanese Yen) with you because they have some store policies on locals and foreigners buying TCG cards using credit or debit cards. Otherwise, you can double-check with the staff to see if you can use your card to make a purchase.
In one case dated November 2023, a foreigner wanted to buy a rare PSA 10 Pikachu card but was told they would only accept cash for that card as it was in the thousands of US Dollars. Please take note of this. Someone also reviewed that they only accept cash from foreigners.
As you exit the store, you will see a TCG vending machine, but it is all in Japanese. You may need some help if you want to try using that TCG vending machine.
Does Girafull Buy Foreign Trading Cards?
I wanted to highlight another thing – I asked the staff here if they were open to buying foreign cards, as I have several MTG and Pokemon First Edition cards in my collection. He asked me what kind of MTG, and I replied that it was mainly from MTG Beta, Unlimited and Revised Editions, and his eyes opened wide.
Then he asked me if they were Japanese prints, and I said no, they were all in English. He sighed and said they would pay excellent prices if my cards were Japanese prints. But he did mention bringing them over so they could evaluate them. He also advised me that if the MTG or Pokemon cards were not super rare, they would not buy them.
So, they would probably be interested unless you have some MTG Alpha, Beta, or Unlimited super rares, including dual lands. But then again, I’m unsure how much they would pay you. So, if you plan to do this, please come prepared.
Girafull Trading Card Game Shop in Osaka
- Address: 13-13, Sennichimae, Namba, Chu-oh-ku, Osaka city, Osaka
- Open: Daily, 1.00-9.00 PM, Weekends longer.
Girafull is a huge company with another main store in Kyoto, and I believe the headquarters are also there. I am unsure if they are also Dragon Star because they also brand the Kyoto store with that name. Anyway, when I find out, I will update this.
While in Osaka, I stayed at Travelodge Honmachi Osaka, which is 10 minutes from the main shopping district and a few minutes from the Honmachi Subway Station. This made my commute around Osaka easy. Plus, the restaurants and Kombini were less crowded than the main areas.
Conclusion
There are several other TCG shops around this part of Osaka. One is called Big Magic Namba, which also sells many TCGs. I did not manage to visit that store, but I will visit it on my next trip to Osaka. Another along the same road here is Bee Honpo (Bee本舗 大阪本店), which has two main shops.
If you are a TCG player visiting this part of Japan, please visit the Girafull Trading Card Game Shop in Osaka, as you will not regret it. And try to hold back from going crazy with your purchases.