Most Pokemon TCG illustrators draw. Yuka Morii sculpts: Yuka Morii Pokemon cards are photographs of clay models she builds by hand. Since debuting on Omanyte in the Neo Discovery expansion in 2000, Morii has built a 213-card catalog by making physical clay models of Pokemon, arranging them against real or built scenery, and photographing the result — the photograph is the card art. It’s a technique unlike almost anything else in the TCG’s illustrator roster, and it’s why her cards are instantly recognizable once you know to look for the texture.
Her catalog skews toward Commons and Uncommons from the early 2000s, plus a scattering of modern Rares, Art Rares, and special-art GX cards. That mix means her name doesn’t show up on many marquee chase cards, and it also means very few of her prints are common candidates for PSA 10 grading in the first place.
This guide covers who Morii is, how the clay-and-photograph technique actually works, a walk through several verified cards from her catalog, and how to source a Morii print from a catalog this thin on graded singles.
Yuka Morii has illustrated 213 Pokemon TCG cards since her 2000 debut on Omanyte (Neo Discovery), using a signature technique of sculpting clay Pokemon models and photographing them rather than drawing. Swirlix CP3 023/032 (PSA 10) from Pokekyun Collection is sold out at the time of this update — sourcing requests go through Quick Order. Because her catalog is Common/Uncommon-heavy, most other Morii prints don’t surface as PSA 10 singles often, so collectors hunting a specific card generally go through our Quick Order page.
- Swirlix CP3 023/032 (PSA 10) is sold out at the time of this update — sourcing requests go through Quick Order.
- The lowest asking price on SNKRDUNK on September 23, 2026 was ¥14,800 for a PSA 10 copy of this card (¥3,000 for a raw copy).
- For the full Pokekyun Collection checklist, see the CP3 card list.
Who Is Yuka Morii?
Yuka Morii, referred to as she/her by Bulbapedia, debuted in the Pokemon Trading Card Game with the Neo Discovery expansion in 2000, and her first contribution to the game was a clay-sculpted Omanyte. In the years since, she has illustrated 213 main-TCG cards plus 19 Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket cards, per Bulbapedia’s count. Her favorite Pokemon, according to the same source, is Ditto — a detail that lines up neatly with one of her most distinctive print runs, covered below.
Academically, Morii is a graduate of Tokyo Zokei University and holds an MA in Living Design from the Kuwasawa Design Institute, where she currently works as a part-time lecturer. That design-school background shows up in how deliberately her process is described: this is deliberate, design-trained model-making rather than casual craft work.
Morii’s catalog sits alongside other Japanese Pokemon TCG illustrators we track closely, including Mitsuhiro Arita, whose painterly style defined the game’s earliest era, and Sowsow, another painterly-style illustrator with a very different catalog shape. Morii’s clay-and-photograph approach stands apart from both.
The Clay Sculpture Behind the Cards
Per Bulbapedia, Morii’s signature technique is to sculpt Pokemon “in the same style as her other works” and then “photograph the finished model against an arranged scenery or actual location.” The card art you see isn’t a drawing at all — it’s a photograph of a physical clay figure, staged and lit like a small diorama. That’s a very different production pipeline from standard drawn or digital illustration, and it’s what gives her cards their distinctive texture: soft, slightly uneven surfaces that read as handmade rather than rendered. The print pictured above is from VSTAR Universe; see the full VSTAR Universe (S12a) card list for every print in the set.
In an interview with OTAQUEST, Morii described her own process in more detail: before she ever picks up clay, she “creates artworks by imagining the 3D images of the Pokemon and draws sketches, then has discussions with others.” Only after that planning stage does the sculpting begin. She has also said she prefers hand-sculpting over 3D printing specifically because the small imperfections of handmade work add personality that a printed model wouldn’t have — a preference that speaks directly to why the finished cards look the way they do.
The technique has drawn mainstream attention outside the collecting community as well. Kotaku ran a 2022 feature on her work titled “Oh Wow, The Best Pokémon Card Art All Comes From The Same Person,” introducing her clay-photography process to readers who’d likely handled one of her cards without ever clocking that it wasn’t a painting.
From Omanyte to Mimikyu: Notable Cards in the Catalog
Morii’s 213-card body of work runs from Neo-era Commons through modern Art Rares and special-art GX cards. A few entries stand out for how clearly they show the range of her clay technique across two and a half decades.
Given that Ditto is her stated favorite Pokemon, it’s fitting that one striking single-set run in her catalog is ten separate clay Ditto illustrations, numbered #35–40 and #61–64 in the Delta Species expansion. The run shows how far the clay-and-photograph method can be pushed across variations of a single Pokemon. The Magnemite print pictured above is from Pokemon Card 151; see the full Pokemon 151 (SV2a) card list for every print in the set.
Claydol EM 24 from Emerald is a small joke that’s easy to miss: Claydol is a Pokemon literally made of clay, illustrated by an artist who works in literal clay. Whether or not it was intentional, the pairing of subject and medium is one of the more satisfying coincidences in her catalog. Mimikyu CEC 97 from Cosmic Eclipse shows the technique applied to a much more recent and widely recognized Pokemon, and Venusaur & Snivy-GX, printed as SM Black Star Promo #SM229 in English and as a Secret Rare in the Japanese Remix Bout set (SM11a 066/064), demonstrates that Morii’s clay work extends into the special-art, multi-Pokemon GX card format — not just single-Pokemon Commons and Uncommons. The prints pictured above are from the Japanese Future Flash, Tag All Stars, and Remix Bout sets; see the full Future Flash (SV4M), Tag All Stars (SM12a), and Remix Bout (SM11a) card lists for every print in those sets.
Other verified credits across her career include Blissey (Neo Revelation), Piloswine and Raichu (Skyridge), Jumpluff (Aquapolis), Poliwrath (Expedition), Happiny (Mysterious Treasures), Drapion V (Crown Zenith Galarian Gallery), Aipom (Paradox Rift), Klinklang (Black Bolt), and Magnemite/Magneton in the 151 (MEW) set — a spread that runs from the Neo era (2000) through some of the game’s most recent releases.
USD figures convert at ¥154/USD, approximate.
Yuka Morii Cards We Have Listed
Swirlix CP3 023/032 (PSA 10), from the Japanese Pokekyun Collection, is sold out at the time of this update — sourcing requests go through Quick Order. It’s a Common-rarity print, consistent with the bulk of Morii’s output, and it’s the entry point we’d point a Morii collector to first.
The lowest asking price on SNKRDUNK on September 23, 2026 was ¥14,800 for a PSA 10 copy of this card, and ¥3,000 for a raw copy.
That scarcity isn’t an oversight on our end — it reflects the shape of Morii’s catalog. Her 213 credits skew heavily toward Commons and Uncommons from the early-to-mid 2000s, card types that are typically played and handled rather than preserved, and that are less likely to be submitted for grading in the first place. An early-2000s-era Common surviving in gem-mint condition and making it through PSA grading is simply a less common event than the same outcome for a modern Ultra Rare.
For collectors specifically hunting one of the other verified Morii prints above — the Ditto run, Claydol, Mimikyu, or the Venusaur & Snivy-GX special art — the most direct route is our Quick Order page, where you can flag a specific card or artist for us to watch the Japanese secondary market for. It’s the same sourcing approach we point collectors toward for Amelicart, another illustrator whose catalog currently has no PSA 10 listings from us at all — sourcing requests go through the Quick Order page.
Beyond the Cards: Yuka Morii’s Wider Work
Morii’s published work outside the TCG includes several books: Let’s Make Pizza, Wanriky! (1997), the Supermarket Mania series (2004–2008), and Tokyo Goods Patrol (2009). She has also contributed 3D illustrations to the Atashin’chi anime, worked on mascot character design, created characters for the Toei Subway, and produced clay play sets and advertising campaigns.
That range — publishing, anime tie-in work, transit mascot design, and advertising — makes clear that the Pokemon TCG is one application of a broader clay-sculpture and design practice rather than the whole of her output. Her academic role as a part-time lecturer at the Kuwasawa Design Institute, where she earned her own MA in Living Design, adds another layer: the person behind the clay Omanyte and the ten clay Dittos also teaches design at the institution level.
Where to Buy Yuka Morii Cards from Japan
We stock PSA 10-graded Japanese singles out of Tokyo. Swirlix CP3 023/032 is sold out at the time of this update; sourcing requests go through Quick Order. A PSA 10 Kahili 065/060 SR is currently listed at ¥20,280 (~$132).
USD figures convert at ¥154/USD, approximate.
For the wider PSA 10 catalog, browse our PSA 10 card list or the full PSA 10 collection to filter by set, illustrator, and price, or see the CP3 Pokekyun Collection card list for the full checklist Swirlix comes from. If you’re after a specific Yuka Morii print beyond Swirlix — the clay Ditto run, Claydol, Mimikyu, or the Venusaur & Snivy-GX special art — sourcing requests go through the Quick Order page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Yuka Morii?
Yuka Morii is a Pokemon TCG illustrator who has illustrated 213 main-TCG cards plus 19 Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket cards since debuting on Omanyte in the Neo Discovery expansion in 2000. She is known for a signature technique of sculpting clay Pokemon models and photographing them, rather than drawing.
What makes Yuka Morii’s Pokemon card art different from other illustrators?
Instead of painting or digitally drawing her cards, Morii sculpts physical clay models of Pokemon and photographs them against arranged scenery or an actual location. The card art is a photograph of a real handmade sculpture rather than an illustration.
What was Yuka Morii’s first Pokemon TCG card?
Her debut card was Omanyte in the Neo Discovery expansion in 2000, a clay-sculpted figure that established the technique she has used throughout her 213-card career.
Do you have the Swirlix CP3 023/032 PSA 10?
Swirlix CP3 023/032 (PSA 10) from the Pokekyun Collection is sold out at the time of this update. Sourcing requests go through our Quick Order page.
Why doesn’t Samurai Sword Tokyo have more Yuka Morii cards listed?
Morii’s 213-card catalog skews heavily toward Commons and Uncommons from the early 2000s, which are submitted for PSA grading far less often than modern chase Rares. That makes graded PSA 10 examples of her work naturally scarce. Collectors looking for a specific Morii print can request it through our Quick Order page, and we’ll confirm sourcing and availability.
What else has Yuka Morii worked on outside Pokemon cards?
Morii has published books including Let’s Make Pizza, Wanriky! and the Supermarket Mania series, contributed 3D illustrations to the Atashin’chi anime, designed mascot characters and Toei Subway characters, and produced clay play sets and advertising campaigns. She is also a part-time lecturer at the Kuwasawa Design Institute, where she earned her MA in Living Design.
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