Imagine flying all the way to Japan for a One Piece Card Game tournament, queuing up for hours, and then getting turned away at the door — because you don’t have a Japanese government ID. That scenario just got a whole lot more real, because Bandai Card Games has officially announced it is introducing My Number Card verification for admission to its trading card game events, starting as early as next month. Yes, the same company behind the wildly popular One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Gundam TCGs is about to change how fans get in.
The announcement dropped on August 5, 2026 via the official Twitter account of Bandai Card Games (@official_BCG_JP), the division that manages collectible card games based on One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Gundam, and Digimon, plus the anime crossover game Union Arena. In the statement, Bandai says it is investigating the introduction of an ID verification system using the My Number Card “in order to provide equal opportunities and a safe, secure service to all customers.” The news lands just as One Piece fans are deep in endgame theory territory — the card game scene is getting its own plot twist now.
What Is the My Number Card, Anyway?
For those unfamiliar, the My Number Card is Japan’s government-issued ID that combines a personal identification number with national pension and health insurance functions. It carries the bearer’s name, photo, home address, and date of birth. Crucially, Bandai’s system would require the My Number Card specifically — not a driver’s license or student ID.
Here’s the catch: every resident of Japan aged 15 or older, including foreign residents, is eligible to apply. But tourists? Effectively locked out. And not all residents have even applied, with many citing privacy concerns over the government’s data-handling protocols.
For those without the card, Bandai’s advice is blunt: “We recommend applying for one as soon as possible, as the process of issuing the card can take a certain amount of time.”
Why Is Bandai Doing This?
The timing is far from random. Just days earlier, the Pokémon Company announced a similar system that requires proof of identity through a Japanese government-issued ID card to purchase certain Pokémon Card Game items or participate in selected events. Bandai is clearly following the same playbook.
The real motivation? It’s the scalpers. Professional resellers have been warping the card game market for years, bulk-buying booster boxes through bots only to flip them at inflated prices. Bandai says the ID system would help identify and block individuals buying abnormally large quantities that are “clearly beyond a reasonable amount for personal use.” For genuine fans sick of losing product drops the moment they go live, that part might actually sound refreshing.
For now, Bandai says the requirement would be limited to admission for selected Bandai Card Games events around September 2026 — but the company is also investigating applying the system for other purposes further in the future, similar to what Pokémon is doing. If it expands to product purchases, expect the anime merch economy — the same one that made crossover collabs like Bleach in Fortnite so hot — to feel the ripple effects.
The Good, The Bad, and The Controversial
On the plus side, official card game competitions already commonly require local residency to register, and language barriers mean most international players buy Japanese-language cards only when they live there. So for many real competitors, the practical change may be smaller than the headlines suggest.
On the flip side, tourists visiting Japan who want to attend One Piece TCG events or grab exclusive promotional cards would be shut out entirely unless they already hold a My Number Card. That is a real blow to international fans who treat Japan trips as card-hunting pilgrimages.
And then there’s the privacy angle: a private company the size of Bandai Namco — with franchises like Suikoden, Dragon Ball, Digimon, Gundam, and One Piece in its portfolio — asking for a government ID at the door leaves a lot of fans uneasy about where that data ends up. Even casual observers are asking whether this is safety or surveillance.
What Do You Think?
Are you on board with government ID checks to kill scalpers, or is this a step too far? Will you still attend Bandai Card Games events in Japan if you need a My Number Card? Drop your thoughts in the comments — this one is going to split the community.
