This is a list of traditional Japanese games. Some of them are localized.

Games

Children's games

Beigoma The ''beigoma'' (Japanese: ベーゴマ) is a traditional Japanese top that is approximately 3 cm in diameter and often decorated with kanji. When spun correctly, the ''beigoma'' makes a humming sound. Game play Players wrap their tops i ...

* Bīdama * Daruma-san *

Hide-and-seek Hide-and-seek (sometimes known as hide-and-go-seek) is a popular children's game in which at least two players (usually at least three) conceal themselves in a set environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one chos ...

Kemari is an athletic game that was popular in Japan during the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura period (1185–1333). It resembles a game of football or hacky sack. The game was popular in Kyoto, the capital, and the surrounding Kinki ( Kansai ...

Kendama The is a traditional Japanese skill toy. It consists of a handle (''ken''), a pair of cups (''sarado''), and a ball (''tama'') that are all connected together by a string. On one end of the ''ken'' is a cup, while the other end of ''ken'' is na ...

* Ken-ken-pa (

Hopscotch Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a ch ...

) *

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 ...

* Nawatobi ( Jump rope) * Ohajiki * Onigokko * Oshikura Manju *

Otedama is a traditional Japanese children's game. Small bean bags are tossed and juggled in a game similar to jacks. Although it is generally a social game, Otedama can also be played alone. It is rarely competitive and often accompanied by singing. Ot ...

Board games

* Go - originates in China, important rules change (free opening) in Japan * Renju *

Shogi , also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, '' chaturanga, Xiangqi'', Indian chess, and ''janggi''. ''Shōgi ...

Sugoroku (literally 'double six') refers to two different forms of a Japanese board game: ''ban-sugoroku'' (盤双六, 'board-sugoroku') which is similar to western tables games like Backgammon, and ''e-sugoroku'' (絵双六, 'picture-sugoroku') which i ...

* Ninuki-renju

Card games

Buta no shippo is a Japanese card game. It literally means ''pig's tail'' in English. The game is usually played with three or more players. It can be considered a party game. This game makes an appearance in '' Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics'' under ...

* Daifugō (another name: Daihinmin) *

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 sin ...

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 ...

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 ...

* Two-ten-jack (Tsū-ten-jakku) - a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese

trick-taking 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 ...

card game. * Uta-garuta - a kind of karuta (another name: Hyakunin Isshu)

Tile games

* Japanese Mahjong - Japanese mahjong, also called rīchi mahjong * Sudoku

Dice games

* Cho-han bakuchi - a gambling game * Kitsune bakuchi

Word games

* Dajare *

Henohenomoheji ''Henohenomoheji'' ( ja, へのへのもへじ ) or ''hehenonomoheji'' () is a face known to be drawn by Japanese schoolchildren using hiragana characters. It became a popular drawing during the Edo period. The word breaks down into seven h ...

* Kaibun *

Shiritori Shiritori (; ) is a Japanese word game in which the players are required to say a word which begins with the final ''kana'' of the previous word. No distinction is made between ''hiragana'', ''katakana'', and ''kanji''. "Shiritori" literally means ...

* Uta-garuta