The World’s First Pokémon Airport Has Become a Gold Mine for Scalpers
Stickers priced at 300 yen are being listed for over 10,000 yen. More and more children are being left unable to buy merchandise...
Four times as many visitors as the same period last year just one week after opening
“If large numbers of tourists come here looking for Pokémon collaboration merchandise, it should help with the recovery of Noto. That’s why I can’t stand the resellers who buy up all the limited-edition goods.” (Woman in her 30s living in Ishikawa Prefecture)
The world’s first airport to bear the Pokémon name, “Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport” (Noto Airport),opened on July 7. The inside and outside of the terminal have been taken over by illustrations and figures of Pokémon characters, while limited-edition merchandise—including pin badges available only here—is also being sold. In the first week after opening, the airport recorded 19,548 visitors, four times the number during the same period the previous year.
Despite this promising start, the area is reportedly struggling with an influx of resellers.
“Starting from the evening of the airport’s opening day, there were a series of listings on flea-market sites selling Pokémon original merchandise advertised as ‘Noto-exclusive.’ Stickers that retail for 330 yen and pin badges priced at 990 yen were being listed for more than 10,000 yen. The airport’s merchandise shop has been scrambling to combat resellers, including by hastily imposing a limit of one item per product per customer.” (Noto Airport official)
Are these measures having an effect? In late July, a “FRIDAY” reporter visited the site. Even two weeks after the opening, the airport was bustling with families, and dozens of visitors were lined up in front of the merchandise shop waiting for it to open. A couple in their 30s with an elementary-school-aged child said:
“Our son loves Pokémon, so we came to Noto during his summer vacation. But when we finally got into the shop, almost all the merchandise, including keychains and can badges, was sold out. Our son had been saying, ‘I want a limited-edition Pokémon keychain,’ so it was difficult to calm him down. For the sake of the children, I hope they can prevent resellers from buying up everything.”
A symbol of Noto’s recovery must not be exploited by resellers.
From the August 21 & 28, 2026, combined issue of “FRIDAY”
PHOTO： Junpei Kotaka