Yohei Ogawa recently went to a convenience store hoping to grab this year's limited-edition Pokémon card packs — and came up empty. "Completely sold out," he admitted with a laugh in an interview. The line comes from an interview tied to the upcoming launch of his "Green Cow Garden" pop-up at Hong Kong's LANDMARK BELOWGROUND, and it's a bit of a surprising admission: an illustrator about to release his very own first trading card series is, apparently, also someone who can't get his hands on cards in the wild.
Presented by HOW2WORK CTC and organized by SAKA SAKA, the pop-up runs from August 15 to 31 at BELOWGROUND, blending elements of an exhibition and a curated store. The space brings together Ogawa's original artwork, limited-edition sofubi figures, lifestyle goods, and trading cards all under one roof. A 1.4-meter-tall BG Bear statue serves as the visual centerpiece, extending the soft, storybook-like world he's known for.
At the heart of the event is "HOW2WORK CTC Green Cow Series 1," marking Ogawa's global debut in trading card form. The series features 137 distinct card designs across four rarity tiers — Normal, Rare, Parallel Rare, and Secret — with hand-drawn sketch cards and signed UR cards randomly inserted. Ogawa also partnered with grading authority Grading Eleven Authentication (GEA) to release custom Art Slab collector boxes containing exclusive promo cards. On the topic of grading and long-term preservation, he was refreshingly candid: "To be honest, I didn't think about it too much, and I wouldn't even know where to start — that part I just left to the GEA team."
The world of "Green Cow Garden" is set in an old town abandoned by humans near a city, where animals have gradually gathered after people left, slowly settling in and building their own community. Ogawa said his motivation for making the cards was straightforward: "My work has mostly lived in canvas paintings, sofubi, and art toys. Moving into trading cards means stepping into a completely different culture, and it lets me bring my work to a whole new audience. I really want my work to reach a wider range of people."
His own history with trading cards isn't particularly deep — he collected Gundam cards and Kinnikuman stickers in elementary school, then shifted his interest to sofubi figure collecting as he got older. Ahead of this release, he actually went and checked out current trading card market prices, and the numbers shocked him: "How did it get this expensive?!" — which makes his earlier joke about missing out on Pokémon packs feel especially genuine. He's standing in the same line as the fans chasing these cards.
Asked about trading cards as a highly social medium, Ogawa said he hopes people will feel free to collect and trade them casually. "If my work can mean that to someone, I'd genuinely be happy." As for his own favorite part of the pop-up, he singled out the finished quality of the card boxes and Art Slabs, along with the canvas tote bags printed with textures from his original artwork — though he added that the printed colors came out slightly lighter than he'd expected.
As for what he hopes visitors take away from the experience, Ogawa's answer was simple: "I hope people find it fun, or discover a new favorite character." The pop-up also features event-exclusive merchandise, including a BG Bear Collector's Set. For detailed ticketing or purchase information, please refer to official announcements from BELOWGROUND and SAKA SAKA.
