If there is one feature that defines the Japanese Pokemon 30th Celebration, it is Pikachu.

Not one Pikachu.

Not five Pikachu.

Thirty different Pikachu cards in a subset of the Japanese 30th Celebration.

Every Japanese 30th Celebration booster pack contains a Pikachu, with one card selected from a special 30-card subset. Even more interestingly, every Pikachu was illustrated by a different artist.

The result is the largest and most unique Pikachu collection ever included in a single Pokemon TCG set.

Here is the complete Japanese 30th Celebration Pikachu checklist, including every artist and Japanese card number.

How To Identify All 30 Pikachu Cards

The Japanese 30th Celebration set contains 30 different Pikachu cards numbered 01/30 through 30/30. They occupy cards 017/103 through 046/103 in the Japanese set.

Every booster pack contains six foil cards and is guaranteed to include one Pikachu from the 30-card subset. That makes the Pikachu cards very different from a conventional chase subset.

You aren’t opening packs hoping to find a Pikachu. You’re opening packs knowing that one is coming – the challenge is finding all 30.

All 30 Japanese 30th Celebration Pikachu cards

Pikachu	Japanese card number	Illustrator
01/30	017/103	Ken Sugimori
02/30	018/103	danciao
03/30	019/103	satoma
04/30	020/103	Takeshi Nakamura
05/30	021/103	Asako Ito
06/30	022/103	sowsow
07/30	023/103	James Turner
08/30	024/103	DOM
09/30	025/103	Atsushi Furusawa
10/30	026/103	Tomokazu Komiya
11/30	027/103	Narumi Sato
12/30	028/103	USGMEN
13/30	029/103	Susumu Maeya
14/30	030/103	OKACHEKE
15/30	031/103	Yuu Nishida
16/30	032/103	Tetsu Kayama
17/30	033/103	Teeziro
18/30	034/103	Shinji Kanda
19/30	035/103	Rianti Hidayat
20/30	036/103	Akira Komayama
21/30	037/103	OOYAMA
22/30	038/103	akagi
23/30	039/103	Naoyo Kimura
24/30	040/103	svlt
25/30	041/103	Atsuko Nishida
26/30	042/103	KIYOTAKA OSHIYAMA
27/30	043/103	Nurikabe
28/30	044/103	Shimaris Yukichi
29/30	045/103	nagimiso
30/30	046/103	Kazuki Minami

The complete artist list and numbering have now been revealed, with the illustrator credits matching the cards themselves.

01/30 — Ken Sugimori

The first Pikachu in the collection is arguably the most historically significant.

Ken Sugimori illustrated Pikachu 01/30, and the artwork pays homage to the classic Jungle-era Pikachu.

Ken Sugimori has illustrated well over 1000 Pokemon cards, with six more being printed in the 30th Anniversary.

02/30 — danciao

The second Pikachu is illustrated by danciao.

Danciao is arguably best known for the Mega Gengar ex SAR 240/193 from Mega Dream ex and Mega Charizard X ex SAR 110/080 from Inferno X.

03/30 — satoma

Satoma takes Pikachu into the third slot.

Satoma is a relatively new Pokemon card illustrator and has a distinct light tone to all their designs.

04/30 — Takeshi Nakamura

Takeshi Nakamura illustrates Pikachu 04/30.

Takeshi Nakamura’s most famous cards include the Delibird IR 074/063 from Mega Symphonia and Bewear IR 076/064 from Night Wanderer.

05/30 — Asako Ito

Pikachu 05/30 is illustrated by Asako Ito.

Asako Ito has a very unique style by drawing knitted doll versions of every Pokemon card she has illustrated.

06/30 — sowsow

sowsow takes the sixth slot.

Sowsow is the iconic artist behind the Gengar V Max 020/019 card from the VMAX High-Class Deck.

07/30 — James Turner

Pikachu 07/30 is illustrated by James Turner.

James Turner is famously the first Westerner to officially design Pokemon before turning to card art in 2026.

08/30 — DOM

DOM illustrates Pikachu 08/30.

DOM has had a lot of big hitters over the years, including the Deoxys V Star 223/172 from VSTAR Universe and Mega Dragonite X 246/193 from Mega Dream ex.

09/30 — Atsushi Furusawa

Pikachu 09/30 comes from Atsushi Furusawa.

Atsushi Furusawa has a huge catalogue of big fits, including Dragonite V 074/167 from Blue Sky Stream, Vaporeon V MAX 187/S-P promo and more recently the Mega Lucario ex 088/063 from Mega Brave.

10/30 — Tomokazu Komiya

Tomokazu Komiya illustrates the tenth Pikachu.

Tomokazu Komiya is well known for his distorted primitivism style and was a prominent artist for the now iconic Expansion Sheets 1, 2 and 3 (also known as the glossy vending-machine card series.

11/30 — Narumi Sato

Pikachu 11/30 is illustrated by Narumi Sato.

Narumi Sato is more than qualified to be one of the 30 chosen specialist Pikachu artists after she also played her part in creating the Pikachu V-Union 025/028 promo for the 25th Anniversary.

12/30 — USGMEN

USGMEN takes Pikachu 12/30.

USGMEN is the iconic artist behind the ‘Bubble Mew’ 347/190 from Shiny Treasure ex, which was their first-ever Pokemon card.

13/30 — Susumu Maeya

Pikachu 13/30 is illustrated by Susumu Maeya.

Susumu Maeya is known for the incredible connecting artwork she created for Deerling and Sawsbuck in the Scarlet & Violet: Temporal Forces expansion.

14/30 — OKACHEKE

OKACHEKE illustrates Pikachu 14/30.

OKACHEKE is another artist who has created incredible connecting art pairs such as Plusle 065/062 and Minun 066/062 in Raging Surf and Latios 070/064 and Latias ex 084/064 in Paradise Dragona.

15/30 — Yuu Nishida

Pikachu 15/30 is the work of Yuu Nishida.

Yuu Nishida won the first Pokémon Card Illustration contest and has created some beautiful cards in sets such as Eevee Heroes, VMAX Climax and White Flare.

16/30 — Tetsu Kayama

Tetsu Kayama illustrates Pikachu 16/30.

Tetsu Kayama is another artist who is well known for a distinctive pointillism-like dotted style, which really pops in common cards.

17/30 — Teeziro

Pikachu 17/30 is illustrated by Teeziro.

Teeziro was the artist behind three major chase cards from Wild Force: Gouging Fire ex 093/071, Walking Wake ex 094/071 and Raging Bolt ex 095/017.

18/30 — Shinji Kanda

Shinji Kanda takes the eighteenth position.

Shinji Kanda is arguably the most well-known modern artist in all of Pokemon TCG as the man behind Giratina V 111/100 Lost Abyss, Magikarp 080/073 Triplet Beat and Roaring Moon ex 218/17 Terasta Festival to name but a few.

19/30 — Rianti Hidayat

Pikachu 19/30 is illustrated by Rianti Hidayat.

Rianti Hidayat might not have illustrated as many cards as other artists on this list, but her use of vibrant colours across her portfolio helps make her cards stand out.

20/30 — Akira Komayama

The twentieth Pikachu comes from Akira Komayama.

Akira Komayama is a veteran when it comes to Pokemon card illustrating with nearly two decades experience. Some of her most popular cards include the Starmie V 083/067 from Battle Region and Deoxys V MAX 222/172 from VSTAR Universe.

21/30 — OOYAMA

Pikachu 21/30 is illustrated by OOYAMA.

OOYAMA, full name Kouichi Ooyama, might have one of the biggest rights to sketching up a Pikachu card as he was the artist behind the highly-sought after Ooyama’s Pikachu from the Japanese Vending Series 3 (Green Set).

22/30 — akagi

akagi takes the 22nd position.

Akagi is another modern artist plenty of Pokemon collectors will be familiar with from as the mastermind behind the incredible Greninja ex 090/066 Crimson Haze.

23/30 — Naoyo Kimura

Pikachu 23/30 is illustrated by Naoyo Kimura.

Naoyo Kimura will forever be a part of Pokemon folklore for her work on the Southern Islands set. The 30th Anniversary set also features a reprint of the Lugia 090/087 from Wind From The Sea.

24/30 — svlt

Svlt illustrates Pikachu 24/30.

Svlt made it as a Pokemon TCG artist after making it to the quarter-finals of the 2022 Illustration Contest for their submitted artwork of Cramorant.

25/30 — Atsuko Nishida

The 25th Pikachu is illustrated by Atsuko Nishida.

Atsuko Nishida has been a part of Pokemon since the very beginning, helping develop the very first games and was a character designer for Pikachu. Not many are more qualified to be one of the 30 artists for this Pikachu sub-set.

26/30 — KIYOTAKA OSHIYAMA

Pikachu 26/30 comes from KIYOTAKA OSHIYAMA.

KIYOTAKA OSHIYAMA is well known among Pokemon collectors as the artist behind the incredible Charizard V STAR 212/172 from VSTAR Universe and Blaziken VMAX 217/184 from VMAX Climax.

27/30 — Nurikabe

Nurikabe illustrates Pikachu 27/30.

Nurikabe made a name for themselves with the beautifully serene Aerodactyl V 106/100 from Lost Abyss, as well as the Tyranitar 079/071 IR from Clay Burst and Groudon 069/062 from Raging Surf.

28/30 — Shimaris Yukichi

Pikachu 28/30 is illustrated by Shimaris Yukichi.

Shimaris Yukichi has a very distinct cartoonish style across their portfolio with the Team Rocket’s Meowth 109/098 from Glory of Team Rocket their standout artwork.

29/30 — nagimiso

The penultimate Pikachu is illustrated by nagimiso.

Nagimiso has a huge catalogue of Pokemon cards with over 250 illustrations after their debut as the artist behind Team Aqua’s Kyogre EX 006/034 and Team Magma’s Groudon EX 015/034 from Team Magma vs Team Aqua Double Crisis.

30/30 — Kazuki Minami

And finally, Pikachu 30/30 is illustrated by Kazuki Minami.

Kazuki Minami won the 2024 Illustration Contest for their brilliant art of a yawning Pikachu. Only apt they get the final Pikachu in the 30th Anniversary subset.

The Complete 30 Card Pikachu Subset Gallery

Why Are There 30 Different Pikachu Artists?

With Pokemon celebrating it’s 30th anniversary in 2026, it’s only fair that 30 of the best artists in the TCG were picked to draw individual illustrations of the franchise Pokemon.

Each card showcases the very best of that individual artist and creates a real collectors item inside the Japanese 30th Celebration set.

The result is some of the best and most unique Pikachu cards ever created.

Every Japanese 30th Celebration Pack Gives You One

This is perhaps the best thing about any Pokemon anniversary set, especially the Japanese 30th Celebration. Cards aren’t as rare as a normal set, in fact every pack guarantees one Pikachu from the subset.

That makes the subset a lot easier and more appealing to collect if you’re ripping packs to try and complete the 30-card set.

And with 30 different artworks, there’s a good reason to keep the entire collection together rather than simply treating the Pikachu as pack filler.

How Many Packs Do You Need To Complete All 30 Pikachu?

In theory, if every Pikachu were equally likely, completing the final few cards would become increasingly difficult because duplicates would naturally start appearing.

In practice, pull rates and distribution matter, so there isn’t a guaranteed number of Japanese 30th Celebration booster packs that will complete the set.

For collectors, trading duplicates is likely to become an important part of completing the 30.

And that’s part of what makes the concept fun.

Final Thoughts

The 30 Pikachu cards may end up being the defining feature of Japanese 30th Celebration.

They’re easy to understand, fun to collect and – importantly – every single one is different.

The combination of 30 Pikachu, 30 artists and one guaranteed Pikachu per Japanese booster pack gives collectors a reason to open the set even when they’re not chasing the biggest cards.

And if you’re collecting Japanese Pokemon cards, it’s difficult to think of a more appropriate mini-set for the Pokémon TCG’s 30th anniversary.