![NintendoCards](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/NintendoCards.jpg)
are
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...
s. Playing cards were introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders during the mid-16th century. These early decks were used for
trick-taking game
A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a ''hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such g ...
s. The earliest indigenous ''karuta'' was invented in the town of
Miike in
Chikugo Province
is the name of a former province of Japan in the area that is today the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyūshū. It was sometimes called or , with Chikuzen Province. Chikugo was bordered by Hizen, Chikuzen, Bungo, and Higo Provi ...
at around the end of the 16th century. The Miike karuta Memorial Hall located in
Ōmuta, Fukuoka
is a Cities of Japan, city in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 112,052 and a population density of 1,376 persons per km2. The total area is 81.45 km2.
The mayor is Michio Koga.
...
, is the only municipal museum in Japan dedicated specifically to the history of ''karuta''.
''Karuta'' packs are classified into two groups, those that are descended from
Portuguese cards and those from ''
e-awase
was a pastime popular among Japanese nobles during the Kamakura period, although its history dates back to the Heian.
In an ''e-awase'' contest, participants were divided into two teams, and created paintings on a predetermined topic, which were ...
''. ''E-awase'' originally derived from ''
kai-awase
''Kai-awase'' (貝合わせ) is a Japanese game with shells.
The shells in the inside would have elaborate paintings, often depicting scenes from the ''Tale of Genji
Tale may refer to:
* Narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account ...
'', which was played with shells but were converted to card format during the early 17th century. The basic idea of any ''e-awase 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. It is often played by children at elementary school and junior high-school level during class, as an educational exercise.
Portuguese-derived karuta
Komatsufuda
![小松札](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/%E5%B0%8F%E6%9D%BE%E6%9C%AD.png)
The first indigenous Japanese deck was the ''
Tenshō karuta'' named after the
Tenshō period (1573–
92). It was a 48 card deck with the 10s missing like
Portuguese decks from that period. It kept the four Latin
suits of cups, coins, clubs, and swords along with the three
face cards
In a deck of playing cards, the term face card (US) or court card (British and US), and sometimes Royalty, is generally used to describe a card that depicts a person as opposed to the pip cards. They are also known as picture cards, or until the e ...
of
female knave,
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
, and
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
. In 1633, the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
banned these cards, forcing Japanese manufacturers to radically redesign their cards. As a result of Japan's isolationist ''
Sakoku
was the Isolationism, isolationist Foreign policy of Japan, foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of 265 years during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countri ...
'' policy, karuta would develop separately from the rest of the world. In order to evade the proscription of Portuguese derived cards, makers turned the cards into very abstract designs known as ''mekuri karuta''. By the mid-20th century, all ''mekuri karuta'' fell into oblivion with the exception of ''Komatsufuda'' (Japanese: ) which is used to play Kakkuri, a game similar to
Poch
Poch, Pochen or Pochspiel (french: Poque) is a very old card game that is considered one of the forerunners of poker, a game that developed in America in the 19th century. An etymological relationship between the game names is also assumed. Ga ...
, found in Yafune,
Fukui prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, Gi ...
.
Unsun karuta
![うんすんカルタ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/%E3%81%86%E3%82%93%E3%81%99%E3%82%93%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AB%E3%82%BF.png)
The ''
Unsun karuta'' (Japanese: ) deck developed in the late 17th century. It has five suits of 15 ranks each for a total of 75 cards. Six of the ranks were face cards. The Portuguese deck used to have dragons on their
ace
An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...
s; the Unsun karuta made the aces and dragons separate cards. The order of the court cards change depending on whether it is the trump suit or not just like in
Ombre
Ombre (, pronounced "omber") or l'Hombre is a fast-moving seventeenth-century trick-taking card game for three players and "the most successful card game ever invented."
Its history began in Spain around the end of the 16th century as a four-pe ...
. The new Guru suit used circular whirls (''
mitsudomoe
, commonly translated as "comma", is a comma-like swirl symbol used in Japanese (roughly equivalent to a heraldic badge or charge in European heraldry). It closely resembles the usual form of a .
The appears in many designs with various use ...
'') as
pips. Unsun karuta is still used in
Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto
is a city in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on February 11, 1942. the city has an estimated population of 30,752 and a population density of 144 per km2. The total area is 210.55 km2.
It is famous for boat trips on the ri ...
, to play ''hachinin-meri'', a game descended from
Guritipau, a relative of Ombre. This game preserves some very archaic features such as inverted ranking for the pip cards in the three round suits. Inverted ranking is a feature found in
Madiao
''Madiao'' (), also ''ma diao'', ''ma tiu'' or ''ma tiao'', is a late imperial Chinese trick-taking gambling card game, also known as the game of ''paper tiger''. The deck used was recorded by Lu Rong in the 15th century and the rules later by Pan ...
,
Khanhoo
Khanhoo or kanhu is a non-partnership Chinese card game of the draw-and-discard structure. It was first recorded during the late Ming dynasty as a multi-trick taking game, a type of game that may be as old as '' T'ienkiu'' ("Heaven and Nines"), ...
,
Tổ tôm
''Tổ tôm'' or Tụ tam bài (聚三牌)is a draw-and-discard card game played in Vietnam, usually by men. The game is often played at festivals. It is derived from the Chinese game of Khanhoo.
The game uses a type of Chinese money-suited pack ...
,
Ganjifa
Ganjifa, Ganjapa or Gânjaphâ, is a card game and type of playing cards that are most associated with Persia and India. After Ganjifa cards fell out of use in Iran before the twentieth century, India became the last country to produce them. The f ...
,
Tarot
The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...
, Ombre, and
Maw and is believed to have originated in the very earliest card games.
Kabufuda
![Kabufuda set](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Kabufuda_set.jpg)
''
Kabufuda
''Kabufuda'' () are Japanese playing cards used for gambling games such as ''Oicho-Kabu''.
''Kabufuda'' cards, like the related ''hanafuda'' ("flower cards"), are smaller and stiffer than Western playing cards. A deck contains 40 cards, with des ...
'' (Japanese: ) is another derivative of ''mekuri karuta'' but all the suits were made identical. It is used for gambling games such as
Oicho-Kabu
is a traditional Japanese card game that is similar to Baccarat. It is typically played with special ''kabufuda'' cards. A ''hanafuda'' deck can also be used, if the last two months are discarded, and Western playing cards can be used if the ...
. They come in decks of 40 cards with designs representing the numbers 1 through 10. There are four cards for each number and the 10 (Jack) is the only face card.
Harifuda and Hikifuda
The gambling game of
Tehonbiki can be played with either a ''Harifuda'' () or ''Hikifuda'' () set. ''Harifuda'' contains seven copies of cards numbered one to six in stylized Chinese numerals for a total of 42 cards. The 48-card ''Hikifuda'' or ''Mamefuda'' () has eight copies of cards with one to six coins, similar to the coins of a ''mekuri karuta'' set. In Tehonbiki, the player tries to guess which number from 1 to 6 the dealer has selected. Some sets may include indicator cards to raise or hedge bets.
Hanafuda
''
Hanafuda
are a style of Japanese playing cards. They are typically smaller than Western playing cards, only , but thicker and stiffer. On the face of each card is a depiction of plants, ''tanzaku'' (短冊), animals, birds, or man-made objects. One single ...
'' (Japanese: , lit. ''flower cards'', also called Hanakaruta) are 48 card decks with flower designs originating from the early 19th century. Instead of being divided by 4 suits with 12 cards each, a hanafuda deck is divided by 12 suits (months) with 4 cards each. Hanafuda games are mostly fishing games.
E-awase karuta
Uta-garuta
![Karuta Practice](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Karuta_Practice.jpg)
''
Uta-garuta
is a type of a deck of ''karuta'', Japanese traditional playing cards. A set of ''uta-garuta'' contains 100 cards, with a ''waka'' poem written on each. ''Uta-garuta'' is also the name of the game in which the deck is used. The standard collecti ...
'' (, lit. "poetry karuta") is a card game in which 100 ''
waka
Waka may refer to:
Culture and language
* Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand
** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe
** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe
** Waka taua, a Māori w ...
'' poems are written on two sets of 100 cards: one set is yomifuda (, lit. "reading cards"), which have the complete poem taken from the ''
Ogura Hyakunin Isshu
is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''uta-garuta'', which uses a deck compos ...
'', and the other is torifuda (, lit. "grabbing cards"), which each correspond to a yomifuda and have only the last few lines of the corresponding poem on them. One person is chosen to be the reader. As the reader reads a yomifuda, the players race to find its associated torifuda before anybody else does. This game has traditionally been played on New Year's Day since 1904.
Competitive karuta
is an official Japanese card game that uses a deck of ''uta-garuta'' cards to play karuta, within the format and rules set by the All Japan Karuta Association.
Overview
Competitive karuta has been around since the start of the 19th century be ...
has competitions on various levels with the Japan national championship tournament being held every January at
Omi shrine
or Omi Shrine is a List of Jingū, Jingū shinto shrine in Ōtsu, Shiga, Ōtsu, a city in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It was constructed in 1940 and is dedicated to Emperor Tenji. It was formerly an imperial shrine of the first rank (官幣大社, '' ...
(a
Shinto shrine
A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion.
Overview
Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings.
The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...
) in
Ōtsu, Shiga since 1955.
A few non-matching games exist that use only the yomifuda. Bouzu Mekuri (), is a simple game of chance originating from the
Meiji period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
.
Iro Kammuri (Color Crowns) is a 4-player partnership game that is related to
Goita. In both games, the poems are irrelevant, and the only parts of the cards that matter are the appearance of the poets such as their clothing, sex, or social status.
Ita-karuta
''Ita-karuta'' (Japanese: ) is a variation found in
Hokkaido
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
. The torifuda are made of wood while the yomifuda remain the same or lack illustrations of the poets. They are used to play a competitive partnership game called ''
shimo-no ku karuta'' in which the last half of the poem is read.
Iroha karuta
''Iroha karuta'' (Japanese: ) is an easier-to-understand matching game for children, similar to Uta-garuta but with 96 cards. Instead of poems, the cards represent the 47
syllables
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
of the
hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''.
It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...
syllabary and adds ''kyō'' (, "capital") for the 48th (since the syllable ''-n'' can never start any word or phrase). It uses the old
iroha
The is a Japanese poem. Originally the poem was attributed to the founder of the Shingon Esoteric sect of Buddhism in Japan, Kūkai, but more modern research has found the date of composition to be later in the Heian period (794–1179). The f ...
ordering for the syllables which includes two obsolete syllables, ''
wi'' () and ''
we'' (). A typical ''torifuda'' features a drawing with a ''
kana
The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most pr ...
'' at one corner of the card. Its corresponding ''yomifuda'' features a
proverb
A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phra ...
connected to the picture with the first syllable being the ''kana'' displayed on the ''torifuda''. There are 3 standard Iroha karuta variants:
Kamigata
Kamigata (上方) was the colloquial term for a region today called Kansai (''kan'', barrier; ''sai'', west) in Japan. This large area encompasses the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. The term is used particularly when discussing elements of Edo ...
,
Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
and
Owari. Each variant has its own set of proverbs based on the local dialect and culture. The Kamigata or
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
version is the oldest but the Edo version is the most widespread, being found all over Japan. The Owari variant existed only during the latter half of the 19th-century before being supplanted by the Edo version.
Obake karuta
''Obake karuta'' is an obsolete variation of Iroha karuta unique to Tokyo. The cards were created in the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
and remained popular through the 1910s or 1920s.
[Pflugfelder, Gregory M. "Display Case 8: Monster Merchandise (II)". Godzilla Conquers the Globe: Japanese Movie Monsters in International Film Art. Accessed 11 March 2006.] Each card in the deck features a hiragana syllable and a creature from
Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of year ...
; in fact, ''
obake
and are a class of ''yōkai'', preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting.
These words are often translated as "ghost", but primari ...
karuta'' means ''ghost cards'' or ''monster cards''.
Success requires knowledge of Japanese mythology and folklore as players attempt to collect cards that match clues read by a referee. The player who accumulates the most cards by the end of the game wins.
''Obake karuta'' is an early example of the common Japanese fascination with classifying monsters and creating new ones. The game is one of the earliest attempts by Japanese companies to categorize legendary creatures, label them, define them, and subsequently market them. As such, it is a precursor to the ''
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
'' films of the 1950s and later. Even more closely, ''obake karuta'' resembles the ''
Yu-Gi-Oh!
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine between September 1996 and March 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, w ...
'' or ''
Pokémon Trading Card Game
The , abbreviated as ''PTCG'' or ''Pokémon TCG'', is a collectible card game developed by Creatures Inc. based on the ''Pokémon'' franchise. It was first published in October 1996 by Media Factory in Japan. In the US, it was first published by ...
'', which also involves
collecting cards that represent fabulous creatures. In fact, many Pokémon were designed specifically after creatures from Japanese mythology.
Jomo karuta
Jomo karuta
are Japanese playing cards. Playing cards were introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders during the mid-16th century. These early decks were used for trick-taking games. The earliest indigenous ''karuta'' was invented in the town of Miike in ...
(上毛かるた, じょうもうかるた) is a regional variation of the popular Japanese card game karuta and contains 44 cards featuring famous people, places, and history from Japan's
Gunma Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...
. 'Jomo' is an old name for Gunma. The first edition of Jomo karuta was printed in 1947.
= Overview
=
Every year Gunma Prefecture holds a Jomo karuta competition. Preliminaries take place in January, encouraging local children to take advantage of winter vacation to practice. Then the final competition is held in February. It is not uncommon for people who spent their childhoods in Gunma to have all the cards memorized by heart. In fact, as adults they often realize that Gunma citizens are the only ones who know so much about their own birthplace.
Among the 44 cards, only the "chi" card changes slightly depending on the era. That is because it is representative of the population of Gunma, so as the number of people living in the prefecture changes, so does the number shown on the card. As of the 1947 census, the population stood at 1,570,027 people compared to 1,600,000 recorded in the very first edition of Jomo karuta. In 1993 the population grew to over 2 million people. Fans of Jomo karuta are able to guess one's approximate age based on the version of the "chi" card one has memorized.
In 1998, the Gunma Culture Association released an official English edition. However, on October 28, 2013, the rights to English Jomo karuta were handed over to Gunma Prefecture. Nowadays there are several events that utilize the game; in February 2013 the first national King of JMK tournament was established, giving adults the opportunity to participate in a Jomo karuta competition as well.
= History
=
Masahiko Urano, a native of Gunma, returned to his hometown from what is present day Mongolia after Japan's defeat in World War 2. Urano felt compelled to help the many orphans and widows affected by the war and began working to support them. Under orders of The Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, schools had stopped teaching geography and history. Urano, who loved Gunma dearly, wanted the children to take pride in their local history and culture.
It was under those circumstances that on July 15, 1946, Urano met Seiki Suda, a devout Christian priest, at a conference in neighboring city Annaka. Together, Urano and Suda came up with the idea of promoting Gunma's history and culture through the game of karuta. On January 11, 1947, The ''Jomo Shimbun'' newspaper ran an ad announcing the concept and asked for submissions for possible card ideas. A committee of 18 local historians and figures of cultural importance were gathered to select the winning 44 cards as well as design the artwork and content of each one. 12,000 copies were sold during the initial release. The first annual Jomo karuta competition was then held in 1948.
An official English version was first released in 1994, followed with a re-release in 2020.
= Cards
=
Because the purpose of the game was to teach children about the history and culture of Gunma, each card represents something or someone of local importance. On the front of each ''yomifuda'' (the card that is read aloud) is a short proverb related to the card's topic, and on the back is a longer description of its significance.
There were many historical figures whose names were submitted for possible card entries, and most are still used to this day. However, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers took issue with several of the cards, citing that the people featured had had problematic philosophies and criminal backgrounds. Those same cards were subsequently discarded from the game.
Main cities located throughout Gunma are featured, as well as famous nature and sightseeing spots around the Prefecture. Cities include Maebashi, Takasaki, Kiryu, Isesaki, and Ota. In addition, Gunma's three famous mountains (Mt. Akagi, Mt. Haruna, and Mt. Myogi), nationally famous onsen (Kusatsu, Ikaho, and Shima), and local shrines and specialty food products are also included.
= Card list
=
= Official rules
=
In tournaments, there are options to play singles or in teams of three.
Set up
Players sit on the floor facing each other and do a quick bout of rock-paper-scissors; when playing in teams, the person sitting in the middle is the one who does rock-paper-scissors. The winning side is responsible for shuffling the deck and splitting the torifuda cards into two sets of 22. The losing side gets to choose which set they want and the winning side takes the other. Each team will spread their 22 cards on the floor. When playing one-on-one cards are set in tiers of 3 (when playing as a team, cards are set in tiers of 2), with all the cards being spread out evenly. Both teams place the final card on either their left or right.
There should be 3 centimeters of space between the two teams, and each tier of cards should be spaced 1 centimeter apart. The cards should be placed at least 20 centimeters away from the players' kneecaps. Players are allowed to strategize about the order they place down their cards. When playing in teams, all members should have an equal number of cards by the end of the match.
The referee will give a signal 3 minutes before the start of the match. During this time players are free to set up their cards on the floor and strategize together. The referee will give another signal 1 minute before the match begins; after that, players are not allowed to touch the cards until the official start. During this time players memorize the cards' locations to make it easier to grab them during the match.
How to play
The person reading the ''yomifuda'' cards must read the 'tsu' card ("Shaped like a flying crane, Gunma Prefecture") twice. This officially allows the match to begin. Players should not grab the 'tsu' card during this time. From then on, the reader will always read each card twice. This allows the referee time to intervene should there be any disputes over who grabbed the ''torifuda'' card first, as well as grant a cool down period before the next card is drawn. The first reading is considered the "real" one and read in a higher tone of voice, while the second reading is done in a lower voice. Players may grab the card before the reader has finished the first reading.
The first player to touch the picture ''torifuda'' card gets to keep it. It does not matter if the card gets flipped, blown away, or pulled; however, players are not allowed to use both hands or keep their hand down near the cards. The unused hand cannot stick out past the player's knees. Players also cannot put their other hand on their laps until after the card reader begins reading. If any players touch a card that was not read, they must give one of their cards to their opponent as a penalty.
When there are only two cards remaining, they need to be lined up side by side, with 30 centimeters of space between them. After the second reading (which should be one of the two remaining cards), players may try and take the card. Whoever succeeds is given the last remaining card as a bonus; therefore, the last card is not read aloud. When playing in teams, the players sitting in the middle are the ones who try and grab the final cards.
Scoring
The scoring system is different for single and team matches. In the former, the player with the most cards in hand simply wins. In the latter, the score is calculated first at one point for each card the player has in his or her hand. Then, the same cards get awarded extra points based on a special scale seen below. The team with the highest total score wins. In the event of a tie, the player or team who holds the 'tsu' card becomes the winner. This means that the 'tsu' card is the most important card in the game, so players will need to move quickly if they want to be able to snag it.
Special scoring scale
In team matches it is beneficial to gather specific card combinations. The special scale awards points as seen below: Note that this scale does not apply during single matches.
Elementary school players can only use the 5 Cities and/or the 3 Mountains combinations whereas junior high school players can use any of the three.
See also
* ''
Goita''
* ''
Menko
''Menko'' (, ), also known as Bettan or Patchin, is a Japanese card game played by two or more players. It is also the name of the type of cards used to play this game. Each player uses Menko cards made from thick paper or cardboard, printed on ...
''
*
Competitive karuta
is an official Japanese card game that uses a deck of ''uta-garuta'' cards to play karuta, within the format and rules set by the All Japan Karuta Association.
Overview
Competitive karuta has been around since the start of the 19th century be ...
References and notes
External links
Japanese playing cards of western origin Portuguese-derived patterns.
An in-depth look at Portuguese-derived patterns.
E-awase type cards.
{{Playing card packs by geography
Japanese card games