All aboard the Hanafuda Railroad

[rousselle]

Wow. And I thought tarot decks were a rabbit hole!

[Timmargh]

My speech therapist loved 'em and spent waaay too long lining these few up for this photo:

[GandalfPC]

Nice set Lots of character in that one

[GandalfPC]

A few more arrivals - v2 GeGeGe No Kitaro arrived yesterday, then the first shipment from zenmarket arrived today - still a few items building up over there for the second shipment. Much impressed with zenmarket - paid for extra packaging for safety and the did not skimp.

The Nishikifuda decks are v1 (paper) & v2 (plastic) poker size - hoping to still get my hands on the hanafuda sized set one day…

Quick preview pic of Nishiki’s:

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[wingedpotato]

Always wanted a Nishiki Fuda deck...

[GandalfPC]

Always wanted a Nishiki Fuda deck...

Paper or plastic? I have a spare

[GandalfPC]

Echigo Kabana Hanafuda by Oishi Tengudo

High quality cards, with the characteristic Tengudo warp - a nice historic deck that is cousin to the larger Echigo Hana (Flowers) deck.


From the Tengudo website:

Like Echigo Hana, it is a flower tag used in the current Niigata region.
The era when it was used is the same as Echigo flowers, but the history of the process and technique of making it remain a mystery for some reason.

It's a little smaller than the usual flower card, and the design is unique. ( It is also different from Echigo Hana) It is also characterized by three cards called Onifuda, but the technique is unknown.

It is a local tag that is popular along with Echigo flowers, but it is a flower tag with a lot of mystery.

You can play as a regular hanafuda, but the unique technique of the region remains unknown.

Comparison to standard hanafuda size:

[GandalfPC]

Nakayoshimura Hachihachi Hanafuda by Oishi Tengudo

A nice high quality, hand wrapped set with characteristic warp and uniquely colorful graphics, with scores and month numbers for ease of play - very happy with this set…

Certain to pick up another few copies on my next shopping spree, after all, I am here to collect nice decks and chew bubblegum, and I’m all out of bubblegum (though I imagine I could also pick up some bubblegum on my next shopping trip, but I digress…)

[GandalfPC]

Kyoto Hanafuda by Oishi Tengudo

Another high quality set from Oishi, hand wrapped with warp, scenes of Kyoto featured throughout making it very unique

Designed by Nakano Design Laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology

[GandalfPC]

Nishikifuda v2 (plastic cards) fusion western/hanafuda/kabafuda

Poker sized deck ready for play of all types, includes an extra seal for the deck - each card also contains a text description of the hanafuda card.

Large blue upper left corner on rain man (Jack of Spades) is one obvious difference from v1 that catches the eye (v1 has a small yellow corner on rain man)

[GandalfPC]

Nishikifuda v1 (paper cards)


The design has been slightly changed between v1 and v2, so both get full set of pictures

[GandalfPC]

Here are the tucks together for comparison

v1 (paper cards) on left, v2 (plastic cards) on right

Note the black banner and text by the birds feet on the tuck that identify it as v2 which is also a bit thicker and a bit larger in all dimensions. A late night bought of fluster got me rather confused as to which version was which

[Timmargh]

[...] after all, I am here to collect nice decks and chew bubblegum, and I’m all out of bubblegum (though I imagine I could also pick up some bubblegum on my next shopping trip, but I digress…) [...]

That made me laugh way too much.

[hsbc]

Kyoto Hanafuda by Oishi Tengudo

Another high quality set from Oishi, hand wrapped with warp, scenes of Kyoto featured throughout making it very unique

Designed by Nakano Design Laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology

Love these

[GandalfPC]

Another nice deck on the way from Japan - will be a little while as I am letting a few packages build up there before shipping, but worthy of a preview.

The Beast King promo deck from Oishi Tengudo

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[GandalfPC]

Gegege No Kitaro Hanafuda - Second Edition - printed by Oishi Tengudo, art by Shigeru Mizuki

This is a nice double deck set (red and black) - not wrapped or warped, but it doesn’t disappoint - cards have a feel of quality and won’t be mistaken for a cardboard hanger box set. I would say they are about equal to a high quality nintendo set in construction.

Not a reprint of the first, a new set from the ground up.

Art is what carries the day here - this set has six pack abs in that department…

[GandalfPC]

京舞妓 Kyō Maiko Hanafuda, ‘Kyōto maiko’ (an apprentice geisha)

Made by Tamura Shōgundō

This is a high quality hand wrapped, warped set - slightly differs from the standard hanafuda - it is the Nishiki (錦) pattern, which is larger and has a squarer format than standard cards, and is printed with more, bolder colors.

The colors were what attracted me to this set, along with the high quality of a boxed Tamara set - this one is a treasure

Comparison to standard hanafuda size and color:

[GandalfPC]

天狗 Tengu Hanafuda by Nintendo

This is Nintendo’s middle quality set. The set is identical to the President set, both washi wrapped but without warp (as all Nintendo sets I have seen are flat) - they are made for play and fitting for it.

One assumes the Presidents set will last a bit longer due to extra varnish, but I will have to take their word for it as the eye cannot distinguish. Price for this set should be a bit lower than the President of course - though I do like the picture on the box better

No reason to take pictures of the full set, as the President set is already on this thread - every card is the same - so I will do the short and sweet

The box and logo card with date card

Next to the President set, each with the bright pine card…

[GandalfPC]

Getting late in the evening, but here is a view of our next stop on the railroad, the unboxing of two Oishi Tengudo sets.

Both high quality hand wrapped warped decks - The Great Yokai War Guardians Hanafuda and "Spirited Away" Hanafuda

[EndersGame]

This thread sure is a treasure-trove of wonderful pictures of gorgeous decks! Thanks everyone who shared images.

Hanafuda sure is a whole world of its own, much like Tarot decks. I can already see separate forums as sister sites for United Cardists: United Tarot Collectors, and United Hanafuda Collectors.

I just want to interact with a few things:

I figured it was high time to crack open the rest of my poker size hanafuda, specifically the sparrows (which I bought for daily use anyway) and the indianwolf line - feels good to be popping seals again…

These are exactly the decks that I have as well, and is precisely what my own collection of Hanafuda decks looks like.

I first became interested in Hanafuda after coming across the lovely fusion decks produced by IndianWolf Studios. If you're interested, here's the article I wrote at the time, which covers the background of Hanafuda and how it relates to standard playing decks, and of course covers IndianWolf's Hanafuda fusion decks:

Modern Hanafuda Playing Cards Inspired by Ancient Japan

Looks like that Master Hanafuda set has English instructions - hooray

Reliable and detailed Hanafudu rules are not readily available in a very usable form in English. But the IndianWolf Studios team has produced an excellent resource which solves that. They created a large full-colour book in English with rules for Hanafuda Games. It was originally produced in combination with the Hanami project and again with their Sensu project (with alternate artwork matching that deck). It is available as an eBook or a hard copy via their website.

I'm a big fan of card games, so I was glad to get my hands on the hard copy of this book a couple of years ago, and it is excellent. Let's be honest, 236 pages is impressive!

The book contains a collection of 37 different games organized into categories, in sections for four main types of games: Capture Games, Sequence Games, Luck Games, and Fusion Solitaire Games. It also contains quick reference charts to help with scoring, and lots of game-play and scoring examples, pictures, and variants.



If you are interested in learning Hanafuda games, their categorization of games is very helpful:
● Capture Games are the most popular Hanafuda games. Capture games involve capturing cards from a field and creating yaku (special combinations of cards) to score points.
● Sequence Games involve playing cards from your hand in sequential order with the objective of emptying your hand.
● Luck Games are simple, fast-paced, gambling-oriented games. Many of the games in this section were traditionally played with Kabufuda decks.
● Fusion Games are a collection of Western-inspired games that we reinterpreted and designed for gameplay with a Hanafuda deck. These games provide a familiar platform for Western players to become more comfortable with the Hanafuda deck.



Once you're familiar with the cards, I'd recommend trying the classic and popular Japanese two player game Koi-Koi, and eventually the more complex 2-7 player game Go-Stop, which is arguably the most popular game played with Hanafuda cards in Korea.

Koi-Koi is a traditional two player game from Japan, and is perhaps the single most common game that people use Hanafuda cards for. The aim is to form special card combinations (called "yaku") from cards in your point pile, which you capture from the table using matching cards in your hand or drawn from the supply. Once you make a "yaku", you can cash in your points, or "keep going" (in Japanese literally: koi-koi)) to try to get more point-scoring yaku. It's an enjoyable game that one person described as "a mix of Poker and Cribbage but with prettier cards!" There's considerable luck, but it's easy, fun, light, relaxing, and addictive, and you can play as long or short as you like. Here's another great description from someone who really enjoys the game, and which should whet your appetite: "It's got the fishing of Scopa, the set-collection of Mah-Jong and the delightful eccentricity of Cribbage."

Go-Stop is effectively an advanced version of Koi-Koi. While it originated in Japan, Hanafuda eventually spread from Japan to Korea, and which explains why this more complex form of the game game is so popular there, and why it is also called Korean Poker. Like Koi-Koi, this is a luck-oriented game with parallels to the `fishing' of Italian Scopa, and can be very enjoyable in the right context. This Korean social or gambling game has a good balance between luck and skill, and also works well for just two players. Rounds only take around 10 minutes, and it has just enough strategy to become fiercely addictive.



I've browsed through some feedback on the rule book, and it's been very well received. There have been a large number of positive comments that confirm its usefulness and its credibility in giving reliable rule-sets for Hanafuda games. Positive comments like the following help emphasize its credibility and usefulness:

"Love the clear illustrations and examples of scoring. Very in-depth rules explanation of common Hanafuda games, as well as some original games inspired by classic western games such as Rummy." - Dee Glazebrook
"This is a pretty hefty book, glad I spent a little more to get it!" - Michelle
"Both the book and the cards are wonderful and I can't wait to read up on some of the games and try them out." - Martin
"Lovely. Approachable. Quite a lovely book. I got my first Hanafudu deck about fifty years ago ... This book is the first that really makes playing with the cards approachable, and adds quite a variety of games." - abwx
"Ridiculously cheap, for the effort consumed in the production of this excellent games compendium." - Bruno Buffonè
"Best book on hanafuda rules. Wonderfully laid-out, colorful, easy-to-understand collection of many Hanafuda games. The only book you need." - Wade Daniel Cooksey

So if you are looking for a good resource for learning Hanafuda games in English, definitely check this out. There are links on the IndianWolf website about where you can pick this up as a digital edition or as a printed version.

[GandalfPC]

I picked that book up a month or so ago in PDF from indianwolf, thanks for covering it here, I’ve been a bit lax in telling people what they can do with these things

[GandalfPC]

The Great Yokai War Guardians Hanafuda By Oishi Tengudo

High quality hand wrapped warped set - they really spent some time with the graphics and the color scheme on these and it is definitely one of my favorites - the muted colors are just plain relaxing - had I known it was this nice I would have bought more than one, and of course that will be remedied shortly

This is a movie themed deck, for more about the movie: https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/t ... 235049525/

[GandalfPC]

"Spirited Away" Hanafuda by Oishi Tengudo

High quality warped set, fun graphics, a nice set to add to the collection

Another movie themed deck, was (is?) Japans highest grossing movie of all time - more about it here: https://variety.com/2002/film/awards/sp ... 200546082/

[GandalfPC]

Scored a Godzilla set for a song (finally) - been wanting it but the prices have been quite high - waiting at the zenmarket warehouse for other decks to arrive being shipping

Also heard from Cameron yesterday - she offered to sell me some of her hanafuda decks directly (not Godzilla decks - I had contacted her a while back via instagram and I think email as well) - I told her I had already purchased in Japan from her store there and was waiting for them to get to zenmarket for a while - she checked on them for me and let me know they were already on their way over

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[Eric Lee]

Ooo, Gojira! You gotta shows us the face cards, man! Major score there. How much does it go for on average?

[GandalfPC]

They tend to ask 50 bucks on ebay

[GandalfPC]

The second Phoenix deck arrived today - figured a black deck to go with the red would be the end of it…. I knew it was a newer deck than the red I had, but that didn’t bother me - but thats not the only difference - they are a larger format as well.

So now it appears I will have to unbox them (was going to leave them sealed) so I can see if there are any other differences, and will probably be tempted to pick up the red and black counterparts to my two existing decks when I see ones of decent price come up…

So much to learn - so many variations, so many fine hints to look for when buying…. So much fun

Telling the two apart seems to come down to the patina of the box and perhaps the red lettering on top - but I will only know will some more research, and the only way to accomplish that may be more purchases…


Going to unbox the new ones later tonight…

[GandalfPC]

Are the decks the same - yes and no - and upon reflection its pretty obvious that they could not be identical. After all these are made with wood block printing - you can’t just blow the original up a bit to make it larger, they had to carve a whole new set.

So as you will see they stayed well within the spirit, but did not “copy” the artwork - it is a fresh representation of the same deck.

One other item of note is that the new version does not have the waka poems that the old one does, though the larger format of the deck does allow for some additional details in the artwork itself, most notably to me on first viewing in the tree bark.

There may be other versions of the larger deck with the poems - and if I find one to confirm that I will be sure to add it to this thread, and hopefully to my collection at the same time.

The paper and ink appear to be the same, with the same qualities of the older one - but the older one has a certain something that makes it stand above the new (more than just the poems) - and this I think is to be expected. There were three generations making these cards and exactly who made the older deck, and what age they were - and what times were like when they made it - can only be guessed at this point. But the old one seems to have been made by a master in his prime, in times where only the finest work was worthy of producing - the new deck seems a masterful homage to it, done in a modern age, carrying forward the traditions of the past as best as a son can respect and celebrate ones father. (Or perhaps grandson and grandfather)

So the way to tell these decks apart, aside from any cryptic markings on the box, is to pay close attention to art itself - while the colors are hand done and will vary, the black lines are wood block printed and will stay the same - even a sealed deck on sale will show the top card of the deck and close exam will tell you which block printed it, new or old. You could of course ask the seller to tell you the size of the cards, but when buying from Japan (where the most are found, and the prices are lowest) I have yet to find a way to ask a question, and often little if any information is given.

[GandalfPC]

I have been looking at all the online listings for this deck where ever I can find some listed, and so far I have not found another of the large format decks - even the newer ones listed are the small format - as the small format is the standard it may be that there were few of the large ones made, though they certainly didn’t go through the trouble to just print a handful, so I expect they will pop up from time to time.

[GandalfPC]

Here are the first cards of each month side by side - they do better justice to the cards, though of course still not what they deserve - I actually shined a lamp up at a silvered umbrella as I have seen photographers do (though silvered on the wrong side) in my best attempt to provide some fitting light - it was a pretty shoddy attempt, but it was the best I could manage at the moment. The camera and practiced lighting I had intentions of getting has now gained more intent, and it won’t be long before I up my game and revisit both sets…

All of my recent pics have at least been uploaded at full resolution, give them a click to get a closer look

This is the card on top of a new deck, so it will be the one you need to compare to know which version you are buying…. Luckily the differences are obvious.