Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, commonly referred to as the LDP, is planning to set up a caucus of representatives to consider new rules around the sale of trading card games.

Seiji Kihara, former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary under the Kishida administration and current House of Representatives member for Tokyo's 20th district, is the one behind the project. The caucus will hold its initial meeting on July 23 before hearing testimonies from insiders and members of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

While the organization is ultimately dedicated to promoting the trading card game industry as a vital part of the Japanese economy, it has already recognized that counterfeit products and stock problems caused by reselling could pose problems for future growth. Any new rules would target these problems instead of stifling the industry as a whole.

The timing of this move from the LDP is so perfect that it almost certainly isn't accidental. Earlier this week, Shueisha took the unprecedented decision to reprint an issue of Weekly Shonen Jump following widespread shortages due to scalping. New regulations, such as mandatory mail-in services and identity verification, would be very well received by the public indeed.