A card given away at Japanese post offices, illustrated by the artist who co-created the original Base Set Charizard, based on a 17th-century painting that was once printed on a postage stamp. That is the short version of the Pikachu Stamp Box promo card, Pikachu 227/S-P.
For the wider family of S-P promos, see our S-P promo best cards guide.
Pikachu 227/S-P was a Japan-exclusive giveaway from the Pokemon Stamp Box, distributed through Japan Post Service post offices rather than card shops. Illustrator Mitsuhiro Arita based the full art on Hishikawa Moronobu’s painting “Beauty Looking Back”.
- Set reference: Japanese Pokemon card lists.
The Pikachu Stamp Box Promo Card: Pikachu 227/S-P
Pikachu 227/S-P belongs to the S-P Promotional Cards line — the same numbering family Japan uses for a wide range of promo giveaways tied to Sword & Shield-era events, retail campaigns, and, in this case, a government postal service. The card has never been released in English; it exists only as this one Japanese print.
What sets 227/S-P apart from a typical event promo is the artwork itself. Rather than a battle pose or a franchise-style illustration, the card depicts a full-art scene built directly from a specific historical painting, “Beauty Looking Back.” It is one of two exclusive promo artworks tied to the same release — the companion card is a Cramorant (S-P 226) themed after a separate classical print.
The Pokemon Stamp Box: How It Was Distributed
227/S-P was not distributed through card shops, conventions, or booster packs. It came packaged inside the Pokemon Stamp Box, a single product distributed through Japan Post Service — Japan’s postal operator — sold at post offices and via the Japan Post website. This was a one-off tie-in product, not an ongoing partnership between Pokemon and Japan Post.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Pre-orders open | July 26, 2021 |
| Box release | August 25, 2021 |
| Also available at Japan World Stamp Championship Exhibition (Yokohama) | August 25–30, 2021 |
The box’s own name — “Pokemon Stamp Box Beauty Looking Back, Geese on the Moon Set” — names both included promos directly: Pikachu carries the “Beauty Looking Back” artwork, while the companion Cramorant print references a separate classical Japanese artwork. Boxes were also made available on-site at the Japan World Stamp Championship Exhibition in Yokohama, a philately event running alongside the retail release window.
Because distribution ran through post offices rather than the hobby trade, 227/S-P shows up far less often in card-shop inventories than convention or set-insert promos.
The Art: “Beauty Looking Back” and the Postage Stamp
The illustration on 227/S-P is a tribute to “Beauty Looking Back” (見返り美人図), a 17th-century nikuhitsu-ga — a hand-painted, one-of-a-kind ukiyo-e work, as opposed to the woodblock prints most people picture when they hear the term — by the artist Hishikawa Moronobu. The original painting is held up as one of the defining images of Edo-period Japanese art.
That painting has its own postal history: it was the subject of a well-known Japanese postage stamp issued in 1948. That stamp is not part of the Pokemon Stamp Box product — it is the historical reference the box’s branding and Pikachu’s artwork are built around. The connection is thematic: a card distributed by the postal service, styled after a painting that once appeared on a stamp from that same postal history.
For a Pikachu card, this is an unusually literal piece of cultural referencing. Most Pikachu promos lean on the character’s expressions or a themed costume, as with the Team Skull-costumed print covered in our best Japanese promo cards guide. 227/S-P instead reproduces the pose and composition of a specific centuries-old artwork with Pikachu inserted into the scene.
Mitsuhiro Arita: From Base Set Charizard to a Post Office Promo
227/S-P is illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita, the artist widely credited as co-creator of the original Base Set Charizard artwork — among the most recognised pieces of Pokemon card art in the game’s history. Seeing his name on a post-office giveaway rather than a mainline chase card is part of what makes this print stand out to collectors who track illustrator credits closely.
The S-P promotional numbering covers a wide range of cards from very different distribution channels. Flareon VMAX 186/S-P is one example from the same numbering family — a separate lottery-prize card with its own distribution story, illustrated by a different artist. The S-P prefix tells you the card is a Sword & Shield-era Japanese promo; it does not tell you anything about rarity, illustrator, or how the card was obtained, which varies card by card.
What This Card Is Worth
A few structural factors are worth understanding if you’re trying to gauge where a card like this sits:
- Distribution channel. A post-office giveaway reaches a different, smaller audience than a card shop promo or a set insert, which limits how many cards circulate through the collector market in the first place.
- Illustrator recognition. Arita’s name carries weight independent of the card’s game-play stats, since the card has no competitive relevance — its value case rests entirely on the art and the story behind it.
- Condition. As with any full-art promo, edge and surface wear on a raw card can be significant. PSA 10 designates Gem Mint condition per PSA’s published grading standards.
Where to Buy the Pokemon Stamp Box Promo
Requests for a specific product go through Quick Order. Graded Japanese prints are in our PSA10 collection. For sealed product, the M6a 30th CELEBRATION booster box was listed at ¥26,449 (~$172) for the Sealed option on October 23, 2026, and more boxes are in our Japanese Pokémon booster box collection. USD figures convert at ¥154/USD, approximate.
Looking for other S-P promos or Pikachu prints more broadly? Our S-P promo best cards guide and top 10 Pikachu Japanese cards article both cover the wider field, and our PSA 10 Japanese promo cards guide compares graded Japanese promos.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Pikachu 227/S-P?
It’s a Japan-exclusive Pokemon promo card given away with the Pokemon Stamp Box, a product offered at Japan Post Service post offices and on the Japan Post website. It has never been released in English.
Why does the Pikachu Stamp Box card look like a painting instead of a normal Pokemon illustration?
The artwork is a tribute to “Beauty Looking Back” (見返り美人図), a hand-painted ukiyo-e work by Hishikawa Moronobu, which was itself the subject of a famous Japanese postage stamp.
Who illustrated Pikachu 227/S-P?
Mitsuhiro Arita, the artist widely credited as co-creator of the original Base Set Charizard artwork.
Is there a second promo card in the same box?
Yes — a Cramorant card themed after a separate classical Japanese artwork, matching the box’s full name, “Pokemon Stamp Box Beauty Looking Back, Geese on the Moon Set.”
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