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 Scarlet & Violet era runs on the "SV" prefix, opening with Scarlet ex / Violet ex on January 20, 2023. Japan ships small, frequent sets — numbered main expansions (SV1–SV11) plus lettered subsets (SV1a–SV9a) — which the English game later regroups into larger releases. The table below maps each Japanese set to its English counterpart, with both release dates.
Era: Scarlet & Violet (set-code prefix: SV)
Japanese era start: Scarlet ex / Violet ex — January 20, 2023
English era start: Scarlet & Violet (base) — March 31, 2023
Numbered main expansions: SV1 through SV11 (some split into paired half-sets)
