Hanafuda - The Flower Card Games Of Japan

Kishor Gordhandas

8 May 2008, 08:14

Japan’s standard playing cards can be divided into two main Games that are of purely Japanese heritage and can be traced back to the Shell game of the Heian Period (794-858), and the Western influenced cards which evolved from the first Portuguese examples introduced into Japan in the 16th Century.


 

Hanafuda is the only one of the several games played in that country. Mah-jongg, Go and  Shogi, all came from China. The Hanafuda, or Hana Garuta bear pictures of seasonal flora and fauna treated in distinctively Japanese ornamental styles. The most representative and popular Hanafuda amusements are: Matching  Flowers,  Eighty-Eight, Mushi, Come On, and Nine.


 

In ancient times Japanese People painted pictures on Sea Shells and used them in games of matching, but about 380 years ago, the Portuguese introduced Western Playing Cards into Japan. One that survived the longest were Flower Cards, in effect a combination of the pictures painted on Sea Shells and the Western Paper Card. Flower Cards are a reflection of a distinctively Japanese approach to games.
June card.jpg
The forty eight cards of the pack all bear pictures. They are divided into twelve suits, one for each month of the year; and the pictures painted on them are of plants considered suitable to the month. Avoiding the mathematical approach of the cards, the Japanese preferred to turn to nature for the inspiration for their game.


 

A set of cards consists of two decks, each containing twelve suits of four cards each, a total of 48 cards and one backed in black paper, the other in brown. Unlike in our Indian Ganjifa Card Game, where it is necessary to play with an older or a used set of cards, in serious Hanafuda , players almost always like to use fresh, unopened decks. The cards are only 2- 1/8 inches tall and 1- ¼ inches wide, but much thicker than Western cards. You must be careful in shuffling a Hanafuda Deck, since the cards are slippery. In Japan, it is traditional to deal and place the cards on a cushion. It is wise to use a soft table cloth or to play on a sofa pillow or on a carpeted floor. For playing our Indian Ganjifa Card  games, it is required to use a square, white cloth or such thing to keep the cards on.
Ocotober card.jpg
Japanese players enjoy the sharp smacking sound that the cards make when one is struck smartly against another whether you slap the cards on top of each other or simply face them together gently. Once you have taken a trick, you must spread it out neatly face up in front of you in order that all of the player may see the cards. Hanafuda does not permit concealing the cards of tricks taken unlike in Western Card games and our Indian Ganjifa Card Games.


 

The Hanafuda Deck consists of forty-eight cards divided into twelve suits of four cards. Each suit represents one of the twelve months of the year and hence bears highly stylized, typically Japanese representations of flowers, plants or natural phenomena associated with that month. In a Hanafuda deck, within a suit, certain cards are more important than other. Their status is indicated by the addition to the picture of animals, celestial bodies, people or pictures of a rectangular piece of paper or Tanzaku, used for writing poetry.

Values of the cards are assessed in points; one point being the basic value for cards without special features, others varying between five and twenty points.


 

The following are a list of the months and suits of Hanafuda cards:


   
November card.jpg 

The number of participating players in a Hana Game is normally three, but  as many as six can also play. In the Indian Ganjifa card games the number of persons that can basically play the game is three for 120 card Dashavatara and 96 card Moghul Ganjifa games but up to six are admitted, mainly for the 48 cards gambling game of NAQSH. Also in a Hana Deck, there is one White Card, the forty-ninth card to make it  possible to play with seven people by dealing each person seven cards. The player who receives the white card must drop out! And, as is true in all games, rough and crude practices invite serious trouble, especially if the game is being played for more than mere fun.


 

The included colour pictures are selected from various Hana Decks from my collection to give an idea about the cards. I hope readers will find this introductory note on Hanafuda Game and Cards interesting and informative, although there may be some already knowing about the Hanafuda game and the cards for playing the various games mentioned above.

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