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Hana-Fuda Cards |
History
In ancient Japan, many different types of game were played, each with their own special tiles, shells or cards. In the sixteenth century these were in the main supplanted by European style cards which were introduced by the Portuguese. About eighty years later, in the mid-seventeenth century, the "closed door" policy prohibited the use of such cards.
"Unsun Karuta" cards were soon developed to fill the void (the word "karuta" is a loan word from the Portuguese "carta"). These and their immediate successors were mostly oriental versions of a western-style deck. Several types were banned because they were used for gambling, forcing rapid evolution away from this style, and eventually resulting in the Hana-Fuda deck depicted here. I know of one other completely different survivor from the early period, "Uta-Karuta", which involves matching a poem in Japanese typescript with the last two lines in calligraphy. Even by my standards that one is obscure, but after a while the Hana-Fuda deck starts to make sense even to western eyes and minds.
The Deck
The Japanese pack consists of 49 cards, of which 48 are twelve suits each of four cards. Most suits have one card illustrated with a bird, animal or scene, and one card with a Tanzaku (hanging scroll). The exceptions are Pampas, which has two illustrated cards and no Tanzaku, Rain, which has two illustrated cards, and Paulowia, which has no Tanzaku.
In the Japanese deck, One blank card is included. In some games, this card is used to identify a player who will drop out: in most cases it is simply used as a spare. Korean decks are slightly different, in that the "five bright", light cards, or gwangs are marked with a Chinese symbol, and they also normally contain extra spare cards which can be used as jokers.
Name of the Cards:
The twelve suits follow the twelve months of the calendar. Each has the theme of a plant that is in bloom in the month concerned, with the exception of November, which is sometimes referred to as "willow", but more commonly known as "rain". I know that the weather in Japan is similar to that in the UK, and November as rain makes perfect sense. Notably, the Korean deck has rain as December: I've never been to Korea but I can guess.
The suit of matsu for January, is named for the pine tree, always green and a symbol of longevity, even immortality. The picture card, one of the brights, "Matsu Ni Tsuru", the red-crowned crane which symbolises fidelity - the birds mate for life. In Korean, the suit is Sol, the pine tree.
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The ume, or plum, is the first fruit tree to bloom (February) as the winter retreats. The picture card is "Ume Ni Uguisu", the nightingale, and in Korea the suit is Mae-Jo, plum flower. Soon after, in March, the cherry (sakura) trees bloom and parties are held in the fragrant orchards, with curtains hung from the flowering branches. For this reason, the picture card is "Sakura Ni Maku", cherry and curtain. In Korean, the suit is Sak-Ku-Ra.
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Next (April), the wisteria vines (fuji) put out their bunches of flowers; these are sometimes referred to as 'black beans' by Hawaii's players and in Korea the suit is Huk-Sa-Ri. The picture card is the splendidly onomatopoeic "Fuji Ni Kakko" - presumably cuckoos in Japan make a more insistent noise.
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or Kuromame (Black Beans) 
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As the weather remains warm (in May), the iris (ayame) grows around ponds. the point card is "Shoubu Ni Yatsuhashi" - an eight-board bridge in the iris. In Korean the suit is "Nan-Cho". Next (June), the peony (botan in Japanese, Mok-Dan in Korean) blooms spectacularly and is particularly attractive to insects. The point card is "Botan Ni Chou" - butterflies. Then comes the height of summer in July, with bush clover ("hagi", sometimes called 'red beans', or aka in Hawaiian) the point-card is "Hagi Ni Inoshishi" the wild boar.
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or Akamame (Red Beans) 
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In August, flowers are replaced by the wide fields of hay ("Susuki", pampas), lighted at night by the harvest moon (the point card is "Susuki Ni Tsuki" moon and pampas). In Korean the suit is "Pal-Gong" - moon in the mountains. As Autumn (September) arrives, the chrysanthemum (kiku in Japanese, Guk-Ha in Korean) flowers. The point card is "Kiku Ni Sakazuki", the sake-cup, reminiscent of moon and cherry-blossom viewing parties. Interestingly, the characters on the sake-cup refer to a tale of eternal youth.
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or Tsuki (Moon) or Bozu (Bald Head) 
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As leaves turn colour in October, the maple (Momiji) is particularly spectacular. The Korean name for the suit is "Pung" (leaves). The illustrated card is "Momiji Ni Shika", deer and maple. The last two suits change month between Japan and Korea. I'm not completely sure why - either it rains more in December in Korea or the Phoenix is not a symbol of the new year. In any case, Ame (rain) has two point cards and Paulowia (Kiri) has no tanzaku and hence three low or zero value cards. Ame is also Willow (Yanagi) in Japanese, or "Be" (rain) in Korean. The point cards are "Yanagi Ni Ono No Toufuu" (Ono No Toufuu and Willow, or Poet) and "Yanagi Ni Tsubame" (Swallow). The final suit in Japanese is Paulowia (Kiri, or Dung in Korean). The illustrated card is "Kiri Ni Hooh", the Japanese equivalent of a phoenix, symbolising the rebirth of the year.
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or Shika (Deer) 
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or Ame (Rain) 
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or Chicken 
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Korean (right), and some Japanese (left), decks have one or more jokers (in most Japanese decks this shows Tengu). Unlike the use of a standard deck card as a "Gaji", or wild card, often translated as joker, these jokers normally don't have a match, but act much like flowers and seasons in a Mah-Jong set, in tha they give a bonus and the player who gets them takes another card.
The points values for the cards vary between countries, and the Korean game "Hwa-t'u" or "Godori" has another scoring mechanism. I've tried to collect as many as I can find here.