HANAFUDA 
HANAFUDA
-1-
The first time that we saw this kind of deck was when a
friend came back from Japan and had brought us one. We had just begun collecting
nonstandard decks and had asked him if he could bring a deck of unusual cards
back with him. And so he did!
We were amazed by the strange designs, but a
bit disappointed that there were only 48 cards (+1 extra card) and no indices or
cardcolours used. We found out that the deck was called Hanafuda or Flower deck
and, although we basicly don't collect any decks without suitcolours (of
whatever kind), we kept the deck as an oddity. We later learned that the deck
-shown here below- wasn't made in Japan, but in South Korea.
Hanafuda or Hanakaruta (karuta, from Portuguese
"Carta") is a gambling card game that is played with a 48 card deck.
The deck consists of
twelve card suits that represent the twelve months of the year. Each month is
represented by a special flower. Each of the 48 cards has a certain value and name. There are 3 types of cards:
- Cards with animals or figures: 10 or 20 points.
-
Cards with a Tanzaku, a strip of poem writing paper. They come in 3 styles:
red strip with poem, empty red strip and emptyl blue strip. All
are 5 points.
- Cards with plants, but no other objects, are called "Kasu" or
"Trash" cards. All are 1 point.
The game has a long history -it was forbidden in the Edo period (1603-1867) and re-discovered in the Meji period (1868-1912)- but the designs of the individual cards (the pattern) hasn't really changed over the last few centuries.
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JANUARY Flower: Japanese:
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| Matsu ni Tsuru (Crane and Pine) 20
points, Matsu no Tan (Poem strip with Pine) 5
points, 2 x Matsu no Kasu (Trash of Pine), each 1
point. In this deck all the 20 points cards have been specially marked with a red dot with a character. |
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FEBRUARY Flower: Japanese:
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| Ume ni Uguisu (Nightingale and Plum) 10 points, Ume no Tan (Poem strip with Plum) 5 points, 2 x Ume no Kasu (Trash of Plum), each 1 point. | ||||
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MARCH Flower: Japanese:
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| Sakura ni Maku (Curtain and Cherry Blossoms) 20 points, Sakura no Tan (Poem strip and Cherry Blossoms) 5 points, 2 x Sukara no Kasu (Trash of Cherry Blossoms), each 1 point. | ||||
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APRIL Flower: Japanese:
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| Fuji ni Kakko (Cuckoo and Wisteria) 10 points, Fuji no Tan (Poem strip and Wisteria) 5 points, 2 x Fuji no Kasu (Trash of Wisteria), each 1 point. | ||||
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MAY Flower: Japanese:
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| Ayame ni Yatsuhashi (Eight-board Bridge and Iris) 10 points, Ayame no Tan (Poem strip with Iris) 5 points, 2 x Ayame no Kasu (Trash of Iris), each 1 point. | ||||
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JUNE Flower: Japanese:
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| Botan ni Chou (Butterflies and Peony) 10 points, Botan no Tan (Poem strip with Peony) 5 points, 2 x Botan no Kasu (Trash of Peony), each 1 point. | ||||
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JULY Flower: Japanese:
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| Hagi ni Inoshishi (Wild Boar and Bush Clover) 10 points, Hagi no Tan (Poem strip with Bush Clover) 5 points, 2 x Hagi no Kasu (Trash of Bush Clover), each 1 point. | ||||
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AUGUST Flower: Japanese:
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| Susuki ni Tsuki (Moon and Pampass Grass) 20 points, Susuki ni Kan (Wild Geese with Pampass Grass) 10 points, 2 x Susuki no Kasu (Trash of Pampass Grass), each 1 point. | ||||
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SEPTEMBER Flower: Japanese:
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| Kiku ni Sakazuki (Sake Cup with Crysantemum) 10 points, Kiku no Tan (Poem strip with Crysantemum) 5 points, 2 x Kiku no Kasu (Trash of Crysantemum), each 1 point. | ||||
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OCTOBER Flower: Japanese:
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| Momiji ni Shika (Deer and Maple) 10 points, Momiji no Tan (Poem strip with Maple) 5 points, 2 x Momiji no Kasu (Trash of Maple), each 1 point. | ||||
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NOVEMBER Flower: Japanese:
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| Yanagi ni Ono no Toufuu (Ono no Toufuu and Willow) 20 points, Yanagi ni Tsubame (Swallow and Willow) 10 points, Yanagi no Tan (Poem strip and Willow) 5 points, Yanagi no Kasu (Trash of Willow), 1 point. | ||||
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DECEMBER Flower: Japanese:
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| Kiri ni Hooh (Phoenix and
Paulownia) 20 points, 3 x Kiri no Kasu (Trash of Paulownia), each
1
point. |
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