Hanafuda

Playing cards were introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in the mid-16th century. The Portuguese deck consisted of 48 cards, four suits divided into 12 ranks. The first Japanese-made decks made during the Tenshō period (1573-92) mimicked Portuguese decks and are referred to as Tenshō Karuta. The main game was a trick-taking game intermediate in evolution between Triunfo and Ombre.[3] After Japan closed off all contact with the Western world in 1633, foreign playing cards were banned.[4]

In 1648, Tenshō Karuta were banned by the Tokugawa shogunate.[5] During prohibition, gambling with cards remained highly popular which led to disguised card designs. Each time gambling with a card deck of a particular design became too popular, the government banned it, which then prompted the creation of a new design. This cat and mouse game between the government and rebellious gamblers resulted in the creation of increasingly abstract and minimalist regional patterns (地方札). These designs were initially called Yomi Karuta after the popular Poch-like game of Yomi which was known by the 1680s.[6]

Through the Meiwa, An'ei, and Tenmei eras (roughly 1764–1789), a game called Mekuri took the place of Yomi. It became so popular that Yomi Karuta was renamed Mekuri Karuta.[6] Mechanically, Mekuri is similar to Chinese fishing games.[7] Cards became so commonly used for gambling that they were banned in 1791, during the Kansei era.

The earliest known reference to Hana Awase (hanafuda) is from 1816 when it was recorded as a banned gambling tool. Unlike earlier decks it consists of 12 months (suits) divided into four rank-like categories. The majority of hanafuda games are descended from Mekuri although Yomi adaptations for the flower cards survived until the 20th century.[6] Though they can still be used for gambling, its structure and design is less convenient than other decks such as Kabufuda. In the Meiji period, playing cards became tolerated by the authorities.

In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo for the purposes of producing and selling hand-crafted hanafuda. Nintendo has focused on video games since the 1970s but continues to produce cards in Japan, including a few Mario-themed sets. Nintendo has licensed many third-party video game adaptations of hanafuda over the decades. The Koi-Koi game played with hanafuda cards is included in Nintendo's own Clubhouse Games (2006) for the Nintendo DS, and Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (2020) for the Nintendo Switch.[8]

In Hawaii, there is Hawaiian-style Koi-Koi which is also known as Sakura, Higobana, and sometimes Hanafura.

In South Korea, the cards are called Hwatu (Korean: 화투, Hanja: 花鬪); the name literally translates as battle of flowers. It most likely was brought to Korea during the late 1890s.[9][10] Two of the most common Hwatu games are Go-stop (Korean: 고스톱)[11] and Seotda (Korean: 섯다). Hwatu is very commonly played in South Korea during special holidays such as the Lunar New Years, and also during the Korean holiday of Chuseok (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 (the former South Seas Mandate), where it is known as Hanahuda and is a four-person game, which is often paired cross-table.[12]

There are 48 cards total, divided into twelve suits, representing months of the year. Each is designated by a flower and has four cards. The point values should be considered merely as a ranking mechanism, as the most popular games only concern themselves with certain combinations of taken cards.

Month • Flower	Hikari (20 points)	Tane (10 points)	Tanzaku (5 points)	Kasu (1 point)
January • Pine	Crane and Sun		Poetry tanzaku	2 cards
February • Plum blossom		Bush warbler	Poetry tanzaku	2 cards
March • Cherry blossom	Curtain		Poetry tanzaku	2 cards
April • Wisteria		Cuckoo	Plain tanzaku	2 cards
May • Iris		Eight-plank bridge	Plain tanzaku	2 cards
June • Peony		Butterflies	Blue tanzaku	2 cards
July • Bush clover		Boar	Plain tanzaku	2 cards
August • Susuki grass[lower-alpha 1]	Full moon	Geese		2 cards
September • Chrysanthemum		Sake cup	Blue tanzaku	2 cards
October • Maple		Deer	Blue tanzaku	2 cards
November • Willow	Ono no Michikaze	Swallow	Plain tanzaku	Lightning
December • Paulownia	Chinese phoenix			3 cards

Some decks may have an extra card which could be blank (to draw a replacement) or feature a manufacturer's logo. In the Korean Hwatu version, the November and December suits are swapped. Hwatu may also include a variety of extra cards ranging in functionality, including 'service cards' (서비스 패) which award various bonuses.[13]

• Category:Hanafuda manufacturers
• Kabufuda
• Karuta
• Uta-garuta
• Tazza: The High Rollers (or The War of Flower)
• Summer Wars

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hanafuda.

Look up hanafuda in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Hanafuda rules
• Commentary on Hanafuda cards, including Korean variants