Hanafuda
Encyclopedia
are playing card
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

s of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese origin that are used to play a number of games. The name literally translates as "flower cards". The name also refers to games played with those cards.

History

Since its early years, refined card games were played in Japan by the nobility, and they were not commonly played by the lower classes nor used for gambling. This changed, however, in 1549, the 18th year of Tenbun
Tenbun
, also known as Tembun or Temmon, was a after Kyōroku and before Kōji. This period spanned the years from July 1532 through October 1555. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...

, when a missionary Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534...

 landed in the country. The crew of his ship had carried a set of 48 Portuguese Hombre playing cards from Europe, and eventually card games became popular with people, along with their use for gambling. When Japan subsequently closed off all contact with the Western world in 1633, foreign playing cards were banned.

Despite that prohibition, gambling with cards remained highly popular. Private gambling during the Tokugawa Shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

 was illegal. Because playing with card games per se was not banned, new cards were created with different designs to avoid the restriction. For example, an anonymous game player designed a card game known as Unsun Karuta. These cards were decorated with Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 art, each depicting Chinese warriors, weaponry, armor, and dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

s. This deck consisted of 75 cards, and was not as popular as the Western card games had been simply because of the difficulty of becoming familiar with the system.
Each time gambling with a card deck of a particular design became too popular, the government banned those cards, which then prompted the creation of new ones. This cat and mouse game between the government and rebellious gamblers resulted in the creation of many differing designs.

Through the rest of the Edo era through the Meiwa
Meiwa
was a after Hōreki and before An'ei. This period spanned the years from June 1764 through November 1772. The reigning empress and emperor were and .-Change of era:...

, Anei
Anei
was a after Meiwa and before Tenmei. This period spanned the years November 1772 through March 1781. The reigning emperors were and .-Change of era:...

, and Tenmei
Tenmei
was a Japanese era name , also known as Temmei, after An'ei and before Kansei. This period spanned the years from April 1781 through January 1789. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...

 eras (roughly 1765–1788), a game called Mekuri Karuta took the place of Unsun Karuta. Consisting of a 48-card deck divided into four sets of 12, it became wildly popular and was one of the most common forms of gambling during this time period. In fact, it became so commonly used for gambling that it was banned in 1791, during the Kansei
Kansei
was a after Tenmei and before Kyōwa. This period spanned the years from January 1789 through February 1801. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...

 Era.

Over the next few decades, several new card games were developed and subsequently banned because they were used almost exclusively for gambling purposes. However, the government began to realize that some form of card games would always be played by the populace, and began to relax their laws against gambling. The eventual result of all this was a game called Hanafuda, which combined traditional Japanese games with Western-style playing cards. Because hanafuda cards do not have numbers (the main purpose is to associate images) and the long length to complete a game, it has a partially limited use for gambling. However, it is still possible to gamble by assigning points for completed image combinations.

By this point, however, card games were not nearly as popular as they had been due to past governmental repression.

In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi
Fusajiro Yamauchi
Fusajiro Yamauchi was a Japanese entrepreneur who founded the company that is now known as Nintendo Company Limited...

 founded Nintendo Koppai
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

for the purposes of producing and selling hand-crafted Hanafuda cards painted on mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....

 tree bark
Bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...

. Though it took a while to catch on, soon the Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

 began using Hanafuda cards in their gambling parlors, and card games became popular in Japan again.

Today, despite its focus on video games, Nintendo still produces the cards, including a special edition Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...

 themed set for Club Nintendo, although this business is diminishing. In 2006, Nintendo published Clubhouse Games (42 All-Time Classics in the United Kingdom) for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...

, which included Koi-koi
Koi-Koi (card game)
is a popular card game in Japan played with Hanafuda.The object of the game is to form special card combinations called "yaku" from cards accumulated in a point pile. Players can gain cards in their point piles by matching cards in their hands, or drawn from the draw pile, with cards on the table...

.

Hanafuda in the world

Hanafuda is commonly played in the state of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 in the United States and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, though under different names. In Hawaii, there is Hawaiian-style Koi-koi
Hawaiian-style Koi-Koi
Hawaiian-style Koi-Koi – also known as Sakura – is played using Hanafuda cards and can be played with individual players or between teams with two to seven people...

 which is called Sakura, Higobana, and sometimes Hanafura. In South Korea, the cards are called Hwatu (Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...

: 화투, Hanja
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...

: 花鬪); the name literally translates as battle of flowers. One of the most common Hwatu game is Go-stop (Korean: 고스톱) or Sutda (Korean: 섯다). Hwatu is very commonly played in South Korea during special holidays such as the Lunar New Years
Korean New Year
Korean New Year, commonly known as Seollal , is the first day of the lunar calendar. It is the most important of the traditional Korean holidays. It consists of a period of celebrations, starting on New Year's Day. Koreans also celebrate solar New Year's Day on January 1 each year, following the...

, and also during the Korean holiday of Chuseok
Chuseok
Chuseok , originally known as Hangawi , is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Like many other harvest festivals, it is held around the Autumn Equinox...

(추석). Playing Go-stop at holiday family gatherings has been a Korean tradition for many years. The Korean version is usually played with three players, with two-person variants. Hanafuda is also played in Micronesia, where it is known under the same name, and is a four-person game, which is often paired cross-table.

Cards

There are twelve suits, representing months. Each is designated a flower, and each suit has four cards. Typically, each suit will have two normal cards and one special card. The point values could be considered unnecessary and arbitrary, as the most popular games only concern themselves with certain combinations of taken cards.
MonthFlowerCardsImages
January Matsu (松, pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

)
Two Normals (1 point), one Poetry Ribbon (5 points) and one Special: Crane
Red-crowned Crane
The Red-crowned Crane , also called the Japanese Crane or Manchurian Crane , is a large east Asian crane and among the rarest cranes in the world...

 and Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 (20 points)
February Ume (梅, plum blossom
Ume
Prunus mume, with the common names including Chinese plum and Japanese apricot, is an Asian tree species classified in the Armeniaca section of the genus Prunus. The flower, long a beloved subject in the traditional painting of East Asia, is usually translated as plum blossom. This distinct tree...

)
Two Normals (1 point), one Poetry Ribbon (5 points) and one Special: Bush-warbler in a Tree (10 points)
March Sakura (桜, cherry blossom
Sakura
A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese . Many of the varieties that have been cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit...

)
Two Normals (1 point), one Poetry Ribbon (5 points) and one Special: Camp Curtain (20 points)
April Fuji (藤, wisteria
Wisteria
Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, that includes ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern United States and to China, Korea, and Japan. Aquarists refer to the species Hygrophila difformis, in the family Acanthaceae, as Water Wisteria...

)
Two Normals (1 point), one Red Ribbon (5 points) and one Special: Cuckoo
Cuckoo
The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...

 (10 points)
May Ayame (菖蒲, iris
Iris (plant)
Iris is a genus of 260-300species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species...

)
Two Normals (1 point), one Red Ribbon (5 points) and one Special: Water Iris
Iris (plant)
Iris is a genus of 260-300species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species...

 and Eight-plank Bridge (10 points)
June Botan (牡丹, peony
Peony
Peony or paeony is a name for plants in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America...

)
Two Normals (1 point), one Purple Ribbon (5 points) and one Special: Butterflies (10 points)
July Hagi (萩, bush clover) Two Normals (1 point), one Red Ribbon (5 points) and one Special: Boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...

 (10 points)
August Susuki (薄, Chinese silver grass
Miscanthus sinensis
Miscanthus sinensis Miscanthus sinensis Miscanthus sinensis (Chinese silver grass, Eulalia grass, maiden grass, zebra grass, Susuki grass, porcupine grass; syn. Eulalia japonica Trin., Miscanthus sinensis f. glaber Honda, Miscanthus sinensis var. gracillimus Hitchc., Miscanthus sinensis var....

)
Two Normals (1 point), two Specials: Geese in Flight (10 points), Full Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 with Red Sky (20 points)
September Kiku (菊, chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are of the genus constituting approximately 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and northeastern Europe.-Etymology:...

)
Two Normals (1 point), one Purple Ribbon (5 points) and one Special: Poetry Sake Cup (10 points)
October Momiji (紅葉, maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...

)
Two Normals (1 point), one Purple Ribbon (5 points) and one Special: Deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

 and Maple (10 points)
November Yanagi (柳, willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

)
One Red Ribbon (5 points), and three Specials: Swallow
Swallow
The swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...

 (10 points), Ono no Michikaze
Ono no Michikaze
was a prominent Shodōka who lived in the Heian period . One of the so-called Sanseki 三跡 , along with Fujiwara no Sukemasa and Fujiwara no Yukinari...

 ("Rainman") with Umbrella
Umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain...

 and Frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

 (20 points), Lightning (1 point)
December Kiri (桐, paulownia
Paulownia
Paulownia is a genus of from 6 to 17 species of plants in the monogeneric family Paulowniaceae, related to and sometimes included in the Scrophulariaceae. They are native to much of China, south to northern Laos and Vietnam, and long cultivated elsewhere in eastern Asia, notably in Japan and Korea...

)
Three Normals (1 point, one off-shaded), and one Special: Chinese Phoenix (20 points)


In Korea, kiri (桐, 오동) is November and yanagi (柳, 비) is December.

Card significance

  • The January matsu Poetry Ribbon card has the phrase akayoroshi, employing a hentaigana
    Hentaigana
    are historical variants of modern standard hiragana. They are a legacy of man'yōgana, where many different kanji could be used to represent the same sound value. As the man'yōgana became simplified into cursive forms, multiple hiragana, including the hentaigana, was the result...

     character for the ka.
  • The February ume Poetry Ribbon card has the same phrase akayoroshi.
  • The March sakura Poetry Ribbon card has the phrase Miyoshino, referring to the place Miyoshino in Nara
    Nara Prefecture
    is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....

    . The town is known for its sakura blossoms.
  • The September kiku Poetry card image has the character for kotobuki (寿).
  • The November yanagi Rain card image portrays Ono no Michikaze
    Ono no Michikaze
    was a prominent Shodōka who lived in the Heian period . One of the so-called Sanseki 三跡 , along with Fujiwara no Sukemasa and Fujiwara no Yukinari...

    .

Variants

There are variations of games played with Hanafuda cards.
  • Koi-koi
  • Hachi-hachi (eight-eight)
  • Hana Awase
  • Mushi, popular in the Kansai region
  • Sudaoshi
  • Tensho
  • Hachi
  • Hawaiian-style Koi-koi
    Hawaiian-style Koi-Koi
    Hawaiian-style Koi-Koi – also known as Sakura – is played using Hanafuda cards and can be played with individual players or between teams with two to seven people...

  • Go-Stop

Rules

The following rules are not official: there are many different games played with Hanafuda and as many different variations as there are players.

Object

Accumulate more points than your opponent. Either a set number of rounds is played, a point goal is set to determine the winner, or players try to get so many more points than their opponent.

Rules of Play

Cards are shuffled and placed into a pile (called the stock). Eight cards are placed face up between the players, and then eight cards are dealt face-down to each player. If there are more than two players, then the hand size is decreased.

Play

Play starts with the dealer. The player takes a card that was dealt to him and matches suit with a card that is on the table. If there isn't a matching card, the player discards a card to the center of the table. Then, the top stock card is turned face up, and if there is a matching suit on the playing field, the player takes the cards, otherwise the stock card is added to the playing field.

Play ends when either the stock is exhausted or either player's hand is empty.

If a player is dealt four pairs or two complete suits, that player automatically wins the round. Scoring for this instance varies, but can be the value of the cards in the playing field.

Hiki

If there are a number of cards on the playing field of one suit, and a player has the rest of the suit in hand, this is a hiki. The player may take the entire suit of cards on his turn instead of playing a card from his hand. Trying to take a card from a hiki with the storm card is an illegal move. If the cards are dealt so that all four of one suit are on the playing field, the cards are shuffled and redealt. If three cards are on the table, they are stacked together and the remaining card takes all three.

Scoring

At the end of the round, each player adds the value of all cards he has taken.

In some variations, 'winner takes all', meaning the winner of the match gets all the points the opponent has accumulated in that round.

Card sets and scoring can vary by which variant of Hanafuda is being played.

Oya-gachi

In case of a tie, dealer wins. If the dealer isn't involved with the tie, the player closest to the dealer's left wins.

See also

  • Kabufuda
    Kabufuda
    Kabufuda are Japanese playing cards used for gambling games such as Oicho-Kabu and Tehonbiki.Kabufuda cards, like the related hanafuda are smaller and stiffer than Western playing cards. A deck contains 40 cards, with designs representing the numbers 1 through 10...

  • Karuta
    Karuta
    is a Japanese card game.The basic idea of any karuta game is to be able to quickly determine which card out of an array of cards is required and then to grab the card before it is grabbed by an opponent. There are various types of cards which can be used to play karuta...

  • Uta-garuta
    Uta-garuta
    are a kind of karuta, Japanese traditional playing cards. It is also the name of the game in which they are used. The game is played mostly on Japanese New Year's holidays. On each card, a poem is written, and there are a total of 100 poems. The standard collection of the poems used is called...

  • Tazza: The High Rollers
    Tazza: The High Rollers
    Tazza: The High Rollers is a 2006 South Korean film based on Huh Young-man's manhwa . The story involves a group of grifters involved in the Korean card game called Hwatu ....

    (a.k.a. The War of Flower)
  • Summer Wars
    Summer Wars
    is a 2009 Japanese animated science fiction romance film directed by Mamoru Hosoda, animated by Madhouse and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film's voice cast includes Ryunosuke Kamiki, Nanami Sakuraba, Mitsuki Tanimura, Sumiko Fuji and Ayumu Saitō...

  • Nintendo
    Nintendo
    is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....


External links

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