Japanese Pokemon card rarity symbols explained: C to SAR, MUR, MA and FUR

Japanese Pokemon card rarity symbols are letters, not stars. They sit in the bottom-left corner after the set code and collector number: C, U, R and RR for the regular cards, then AR, SR, SAR and a gold top card (UR, or MUR in the MEGA-era sets) for the chase cards. As of October 2026 two newer codes matter too: MA (Mega Attack Rare) and FUR (Futuristic Rare). The gap between tiers is real: Umbreon ex SAR was $399.20 on TCGplayer on 25 October 2026, the RR version $2.85.

Where is the rarity symbol on a Japanese Pokemon card?

Turn the card over to the front and look at the bottom-left corner. On current cards, one short line holds four things in this order:

1. Regulation mark: a single letter in a small box (H, I or J on current cards). The Pokemon Company confirms it sits at the bottom left and that H, I and J are the Standard-legal marks from 23 January 2026, when G rotated out.
2. Set code (the “expansion mark”): sv8a, M6, M2a and so on. The official rules page notes that cards from the XY BREAK series and earlier print this at the bottom right instead.
3. Collector number: 217/187. The left number is the card’s position, the right number is the set total.
4. Rarity code: the letters this guide is about.

The collector number already hints at rarity. SR and higher cards are numbered above the set total, so a card like Umbreon ex 217/187 or Mega Rayquaza ex 113/076 is a “secret” card before you read its code. Regular commons and rares stay inside the total.

Japanese Pokemon card rarity symbols list (Scarlet & Violet and MEGA era)

This is the ladder you will meet in sets from 2023 onward. Japanese names are as the official pages print them; English equivalents follow The Pokemon Company International’s March 2023 rarity explainer and the labels TCGplayer uses for Japanese singles.

Two naming traps catch English-speaking buyers. Japanese SR is the English Ultra Rare, and Japanese UR is the English Hyper Rare (the gold card that pokemon.com says “were previously known as secret rare cards”). A listing that says “UR” means gold, not the two-foil-star tier.

AR and SAR are the codes that changed Japanese collecting. Both arrived in VSTAR Universe (VSTARユニバース, s12a) on 2 December 2022, and the English side added Illustration Rare and Special Illustration Rare the following March. Black Bolt and White Flare took the idea furthest: all 156 Pokemon in the two sets got an AR or SAR.

What do RRR, CHR, CSR, HR, K and A mean?

These are Sword & Shield-era codes. Current packs do not print them, but the cards are everywhere on eBay and in Japanese shop binders.

A CHR or CSR can be worth far more than an RRR: Pikachu VMAX CSR 223/184 from VMAX Climax (s8b) was $88.39 on TCGplayer on 25 October 2026, while the RRR Charizard VSTAR 014/172 from VSTAR Universe was $4.59.

What about PROMO cards and the 30th Pikachu cards?

Promo cards have no rarity letter. Where the set code would be, they print PROMO, and the collector number ends in the era’s promo suffix: 033/M-P for the MEGA era, SV-P for Scarlet & Violet, S-P for Sword & Shield, SM-P for Sun & Moon. The same card can exist as an RR in a set, a SAR in a high-class pack and an unlabeled promo, so with promos the number and the event it came from decide the value, not a letter.

The 30 Pikachu cards in 30th CELEBRATION (M6a) are a special case. The official page guarantees one in every pack and names no rarity for them; TCGplayer files them as “Pikachu Rare”, and most traded between $0.73 and $1.52 on 25 October 2026.

What do the circle, diamond and star mean on old Japanese cards?

Before the Black & White era, Japanese cards used three symbols: ● for Common, ◆ for Uncommon and ★ for Rare, printed at the bottom right. Letter codes started with Black Collection and White Collection, the first Black & White sets, and have been the rule since.

The very first Japanese cards had nothing at all. Media Factory released the Japanese Base Set (the Expansion Pack) on 20 October 1996, and that first print run carried no rarity symbol. Collectors call these “No Rarity” cards; the earliest documented cards with symbols date to the Jungle set of 5 March 1997. If you see an old-back card with a blank corner where the star should be, that is why sellers make a fuss about it. Have any such card checked by a grading company, as covered in our guide to grading Japanese Pokemon cards.

Which Japanese rarities are worth money?

Value climbs with the code, but not in a straight line, and the gold card is not always the top. One Pokemon across one set shows the shape. Mega Rayquaza ex (メガレックウザex) in Storm Emeralda (ストームエメラルダ, M6), TCGplayer market prices on 25 October 2026:

In Japan the same SAR was ¥34,800 at Yuyu-tei on 16 October 2026 (about $222 at ¥157 to the dollar), down from ¥128,000 on 3 August 2026, three days after release. A launch-week SAR price can fall fast, which is one reason to read our guide on whether Pokemon cards are cheaper in Japan before paying launch prices.

The SAR can beat the gold card. Mega Charizard X ex (メガリザードンXex) from Inferno X (インフェルノX, M2) was $706.04 as a SAR and $657.84 as a MUR on 25 October 2026. The MA version of the same Pokemon from MEGA Dream ex was $22.68, so far below the SAR. In 30th CELEBRATION the two codes tied: Mew ex SAR 129/103 at $69.01 and Mew ex FUR 135/103 at $69.38, against $1.06 for the RR.

Patterns instead of letters can matter too. In Terastal Festival ex (sv8a), the plain Umbreon common 092/187 was $0.34 while the Master Ball-pattern version of the same card was $46.35 (TCGplayer, 25 October 2026). The code says C on both.

More guides: Japanese vs English Pokemon cards, Japanese sets and their English equivalents, where to buy Japanese Pokemon cards, and the Pokemon hub.