JP sets historically released 2–5 months ahead of EN; that gap has narrowed to ~5 weeks (OP-15, 2026) and is billed as ~1 week (OP-17, Aug 2026) — the first near-simultaneous worldwide release. Card pool and rarities match JP/EN; JP-exclusive God Packs and pack-size/price differences (12 cards/$4.99 EN vs 6 cards/¥220, rising to ¥240 from OP-17, JP) do not.
OP-01 "Romance Dawn": JP 2022-07-22 / EN 2022-12 (~4.5-month gap)
OP-05 "Awakening of the New Era": JP 2023-08-26 (1st-anniversary set)
Japan's Pokémon TCG has run two eras since 2023: Scarlet & Violet ("SV" codes, January 20, 2023 to June 6, 2025) and the MEGA era ("M" codes), which opened with Mega Brave / Mega Symphonia on August 1, 2025. The newest Japanese set is the expansion pack 30th CELEBRATION (M6a), released on September 16, 2026 — the first Pokémon TCG set released worldwide on the same day. As of October 14, 2026 the official Japanese site has not announced the next expansion. The tables below map each Japanese set to its English counterpart, with both release dates.
Eras covered: Scarlet & Violet (prefix SV) and MEGA (prefix M)
Japanese SV era: Scarlet ex / Violet ex (Jan 20, 2023) to Black Bolt / White Flare (SV11B/SV11W, Jun 6, 2025)
Japanese MEGA era start: Mega Brave / Mega Symphonia (M1L/M1S) — August 1, 2025
English era start: Scarlet & Violet (base) — March 31, 2023; Mega Evolution — September 26, 2025
