A Blastoise in 2012. A run of Sword & Shield special-art Vs. Two Scarlet & Violet SAR chase cards. That’s the shape of Satoshi Shirai’s Pokemon TCG catalog — a catalog spanning more than a decade that shows up in the chase-tier slots of set after set.
This guide covers what’s actually documented about Shirai’s Pokemon card work: the Serebii-tracked catalog size, the debut card, a set of verified credits with Japanese-print images spanning 2012 through the current SV era, and where that catalog stands against our own inventory today. We source and ship Japanese sealed product and singles out of Tokyo, so the sets referenced below are ones we stock directly.
Serebii’s Cardex catalogs 52 cards credited to Satoshi Shirai, reprints included, starting with Blastoise in 2012’s Boundaries Crossed and running through Scarlet & Violet-era SAR chase cards like Gengar ex and Aegislash ex. We don’t currently hold single-card Shirai stock, but the sets carrying these credits are in our sealed box catalog — Blue Sky Stream (Medicham V) is currently listed at ¥306,600 and Wild Force (Gengar ex) is currently listed from ¥12,480.
Who Is Satoshi Shirai?
Satoshi Shirai is a credited illustrator on the Pokemon Trading Card Game whose work is tracked in Serebii’s Cardex under 52 cataloged cards, reprints included. Limitless TCG’s card database independently confirms dozens of individual Japanese-print credits, each checked on its own card page against the literal “Illustrated by Satoshi Shirai” credit line rather than assumed from a name match.
There is no publicly verified biographical information beyond the card credits themselves — no confirmed prior career, no documented studio history, and no independently sourced artist statement. This guide follows that gap rather than filling it: what’s covered below is the catalog as it exists in the record, not a constructed backstory. In keeping with that, this guide refers to Shirai by name throughout rather than assuming pronouns not established in the sourcing.
What the record does establish clearly is a debut point and a long, continuous run afterward. Serebii’s earliest listed credit for Shirai is Blastoise, printed in 2012’s Boundaries Crossed during the Black & White era, with verified credits across the BW, SM, SWSH, and SV eras.
Career Span: From Boundaries Crossed to the SV SAR Era
Twelve years separate the Boundaries Crossed debut from the most recent verified credits, and the catalog moves through several distinct chase-rarity formats along the way rather than sitting in one lane. The clearest throughline is which slot Shirai’s cards tend to occupy in a set: not the base Pokemon, and not the ultra-rare secret slot at the very back of the print run, but the mid-to-high chase tier — Special Art Vs in the Sword & Shield era, then Special Art Rares once Scarlet & Violet renamed the format.
Sword & Shield’s V-series special arts make up a large share of the confirmed mid-career credits: Medicham V’s SR special art in Blue Sky Stream (2021), Steelix V’s special art in Legendary Heartbeat (2020), and Shaymin V in the RR tier of Star Birth (2022) all carry the same verified credit line. By the time Scarlet & Violet’s SAR format arrived, the same pattern continued with Aegislash ex in Future Flash (2023) and Gengar ex in Wild Force (2024) — both individually confirmed on their Limitless card pages.
Earlier in the timeline, the catalog also includes standard-rarity work: Alolan Exeggutor at the R tier in 2018’s Forbidden Light is a reminder that, like most working TCG illustrators, Shirai’s credits aren’t limited to headline chase cards. Read across the full span, the catalog reads as a sustained mid-to-high chase-tier presence carried from the BW era into the current SV era, rather than a short run confined to one generation of sets.
Notable Cards in the Catalog
Six cards, each individually confirmed on its Limitless card page as carrying the Satoshi Shirai credit, spanning 2012 through the current SV era:
The Gengar ex SAR from Wild Force is the most recent of the SV-era credits and one of the set’s highest chase-tier pulls — see our Wild Force best cards guide for how it stacks up against the rest of that set. Aegislash ex, from the same SAR tier one set earlier in Future Flash, follows the same chase-slot pattern.
Steelix V’s special art in Legendary Heartbeat sits earlier in the SWSH run, and it’s a useful comparison point against the two SV cards above — same chase-tier slot, same illustrator, a different set of years.
Shaymin V, at the RR tier in Star Birth, and Alolan Exeggutor, at the standard R tier in 2018’s Forbidden Light, round out the verified sample at more accessible price points than the SV-era SAR cards above.
Special Art and SAR: The Rarity Tiers Shirai Works In
Most of the confirmed Shirai credits sit at one of two related chase tiers: Special Art (SA), used in the Sword & Shield-era V cards like Medicham V and Steelix V, and Special Art Rare (SAR), the equivalent Scarlet & Violet-era slot used for Gengar ex and Aegislash ex. Both formats put full-bleed, alternate artwork above a set’s ordinary holo tier without going as far as a numbered secret-rare slot — a distinction that matters for identifying a print and, separately, for how it holds up under grading.
Textured SA and SAR surfaces show handling wear more readily than standard holofoil, which is one reason condition swings are larger on these cards than on a set’s base rares. For a closer look at how that plays out between a raw copy and a graded one, see our PSA 10 vs. raw Japanese cards guide.
| 卡牌 | 系列 | Tier | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blastoise | Boundaries Crossed | — | 2012 |
| Alolan Exeggutor | Forbidden Light | R | 2018 |
| Steelix V | Legendary Heartbeat | SR (Special Art) | 2020 |
| Medicham V | Blue Sky Stream | SR (Special Art) | 2021 |
| Shaymin V | Star Birth | RR | 2022 |
| Aegislash ex | Future Flash | SAR | 2023 |
| Gengar ex | Wild Force | SAR | 2024 |
Where This Catalog Meets Our Inventory
We checked our current stock against the verified Shirai card list by set and collector number rather than by Pokemon name alone, to avoid a name coincidence standing in for a real match. The result: no single-card Shirai stock currently listed. That’s an inventory snapshot rather than a statement about the catalog — the sets carrying these credits are ones we source regularly as sealed product.
Beyond that box, Future Flash (SV4M, Aegislash ex) is currently listed from ¥10,192 and Star Birth (S9, Shaymin V) is currently listed at ¥22,575. If a specific Shirai-illustrated single brought you here — the Wild Force Gengar ex SAR, the Blue Sky Stream Medicham V, or any of the earlier SM/SWSH prints — the Quick Order page is the fastest way to flag a sourcing request for when a copy comes into stock.
Where to Buy Japanese Pokemon Cards
We source and ship Japanese sealed product and singles out of Tokyo with tracked delivery. For the sets referenced in this guide, start with Wild Force or Future Flash for the current SAR-era Shirai credits, or browse the full booster box collection for other sets. For a specific single or a mixed order across sets, the Quick Order page is the fastest route.
If you’re researching illustrator catalogs more broadly, our Shin Nagasawa illustrator guide covers a separate verified catalog in the same format as this one. For character-specific breakdowns rather than illustrator catalogs, see our Machamp cards guide.
常见问题
Who is Satoshi Shirai?
Satoshi Shirai is a credited illustrator on the Pokemon Trading Card Game, tracked in Serebii’s Cardex under 52 cataloged cards including reprints. No independently verified biographical information beyond the card credits is currently documented.
How many Pokemon cards has Satoshi Shirai illustrated?
Serebii’s Cardex lists 52 cards credited to Shirai, reprints included. Limitless TCG’s Japanese-print database independently confirms dozens of these credits on individual card pages.
What was Satoshi Shirai’s first Pokemon TCG card?
Serebii’s earliest listed credit is Blastoise, printed in 2012’s Boundaries Crossed during the Black & White era.
What is a Special Art (SA) card, and which Shirai prints use it?
Special Art (SA), and its Scarlet & Violet-era equivalent Special Art Rare (SAR), are full-bleed alternate-artwork chase tiers above a set’s standard holo rares. Confirmed Shirai examples include Medicham V and Steelix V (SA) and Gengar ex and Aegislash ex (SAR).
Are there Satoshi Shirai single cards currently in stock?
As of this guide’s last inventory check, we hold no single cards specifically matched to a verified Satoshi Shirai credit. The sealed booster boxes for sets carrying these credits — Wild Force, Future Flash, Legendary Heartbeat, and others — are in our current catalog, and the Quick Order page is the fastest way to request a specific single.
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