Thursday, July 3, 2025

Where to get baseball cards in Japan? Forget the bubblegum, think potato chips and kaki no tane... (and updated 7/14/25)

When I was growing up in America, I would often buy baseball cards that came with a stick (and scent) of bubblegum. But here in Japan, you can get baseball cards when you buy a certain brand of potato chips and a certain brand of kaki no tane (small, crescent-shaped rice crackers flavored with soy sauce and chili). Here are a couple of recent purchases...
I bought 3 small packs of chips at my neighborhood convenience store in Kadoma-shi. You get two cards per pack. Unfortunately I didn't get any Hanshin Tigers player cards this time.

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I found these kaki no tane at a convenience store in Kyoto. I had never seen these before. You get one card per pack. I was lucky to get one Hanshin Tigers player card, Nakano Takumu. My daughter and I enjoy opening up the packs and seeing which players we got, and then eating the snacks. Go Tigers!

UPDATE! 7/14/25:

Recently when we bought potato chips we got a "lucky card." We sent it in the the company and received a small folder to keep our cards in good condition.