Tokyo train stations giving out awesome giant Pokémon cards, but you'll want to hurry
It's often been said that the journey itself is more important than the destination. But you know what's even better? A journey that gets you some cool exclusive Pokémon merch.
That sort of doesn't-matter-exactly-where-you-go philosophy is the underlying idea for rail operator East Japan Railway Company/JR East's Pokémon Stamp Rally 2025, which is going on right now in Tokyo. In a stamp rally, you start by receiving a sheet with blank spaces on it, then you travel to various stations on the train network where there are special stamps you use to fill up your sheet. When you're all done, you turn in the completed sheet and receive a prize.
As far as stamp rallies go, the JR East Pokémon Stamp Rally 2025 is pretty easy to complete. Major stations in the Tokyo area give out the stamp sheet for free, and you only need six stamps to fill it up. With a total of 36 stations that have stamps in Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Saitama, and Kanagawa, it's not hard to plot a route to complete your sheet, either as a dedicated course to follow all in one fell swoop or to fold into your other sightseeing plans.
▼ Map of the 36 stamp stations (we'll explain the 'Stage 2 stamps' in a bit)
Each station's stamp features a different Pokémon species, and you can find the stamp itself by following the signs that say スタンプはこちら ('stamp this way') with an arrow, or by asking the station staff ' Pokémon no sutampu wa doko ni arimasu ka ?' The stamps are always located outside the ticket gates, by the way.
▼ A sign pointing the way to the Mega Ampharos stamp inside downtown Tokyo's Yoyogi Station
Once you've got six stamps, bring your completed sheet to one of the New Days station convenience stores listed below…
…where you'll then receive this awesome Pikachu ex Jumbo Card!
As mentioned, with just six stamps this is a pretty quick and easy rally to complete, but that's because that's just Stage 1 of the Pokémon Stamp Rally 2025. For Stage 2, there are different prizes if you gather 12 or all 36 stamps…or at least there were. As you can probably guess, there are a lot of Pokémon fans in the greater Tokyo area, and Stage 2 supplies have already been depleted. Luckily, the Stage 1 rally is still going on, but while it's scheduled ending date is August 31, that might get moved up if they run out of Pikachu ex Jumbo Cards, so you'll want to get to rallying sooner rather than later.
Related: JR East Pokémon Stamp Rally 2025 English website
Top image: SoraNews24
Insert images: SoraNews24, JR East
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