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Hanafuda

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This article focuses exclusively on Nintendo's Hanafuda cards. To find information on all of Nintendo's playing cards, see Nintendo playing cards.

Hanafuda(JP), which means "Flower cards" in English, are playing cards of Japanese origin that are used to play a variety of different games. Fusajiro Yamauchi had established Nintendo with the purpose of printing and selling Hanafuda cards.

Nintendo's Hanafuda cards became so well known across Japan that Nintendo eventually started to develop other classic Japanese and Western card games. Their experience in creating card games led them to the toy business and ultimately the video game industry. Today, they are still a major manufacturer of Hanafuda cards in Japan. Their hanafuda brands include the popular Daitouryou variant, which features the portrait of Napoleon.

Description

Hanafuda is a type of Japanese playing card deck that uses 12 types of flowers as its "suits", which also correspond to the 12 months of the year. There are four cards per suit, and typical hanafuda games involve matching these suits to score points. There are also depictions of various animals and Japanese objects, which signify that the cards are worth more than the others.

Hanafuda cards are usually very small, about 1/3 the size of a typical western playing card. However, they are much thicker and stiffer, and not at all flexible, so they are usually played like tiles.

History

During the reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate, various Japanese playing card (karuta) designs known to be used for gambling were banned by the government. However, not all playing cards were banned; some types that were considered educational such as Ogura Hyakunin Isshu were not banned, and were even encouraged. Hanafuda may have been born from these instances.

Early hanafuda cards from the 1700's were called Hana Awase (flower matching), and had a large amount of flower varieties per set, sometimes as many as 100 flowers. There were 4 cards per each flower type, and some cards have various additional illustrations on them, including tanzaku, that would make them more valuable than cards that don't have them. Eventually, the number of flower types would be reduced to just 12, corresponding to the 12 months of a year, and coincidentally corresponding to the 12 ranks of a Portuguese playing card deck. However, it was also identified as a tool for gambling and also banned by the government around the early 1800's.

Despite the government's ban on playing cards, there were Japanese who manufactured various Japanese playing cards and played the games in secret, including hanafuda.

During the Meiji Era in the late 1800s, Japan finally lifted the ban on manufacturing playing cards. One by one, Japanese playing card manufacturers would start to openly sell playing cards in public. In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi would establish his own company called Nintendo, created solely for producing and selling hanafuda cards. They became popular, which prompted Nintendo to expand into manufacturing other types of cards as well, including various Japanese regional playing card designs, Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, and even western playing cards. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Nintendo's Hanafuda Brands

Nintendo sold many different hanafuda brands throughout the years. The choice of brand would be influenced by various things, including the finish of the cards, the methods employed in printing the cards, and whether the cards were manufactured in-house or outsourced to another company.

Today, there are only 3 main hanafuda brands sold by Nintendo, all depending on the finish of the cards. Note that all three brands feature the same hanafuda designs; only the finish on the cards are different. Also, all brands come in either red or black backs.

Daitouryou

Their highest-class and most popular brand is Daitouryou, which featured an image of Napoleon's face on the label. Nintendo liked the image of Napoleon so much that they even used the name "Napoleon" as a brand of their western playing cards during the 1930's and 1940's. The Daitouryou deck is characterized by a glossy finish on the back, and a smooth, slippery finish on the front. The coating on the front also makes the cards somewhat water-resistant, although it is absolutely not recommended to let your hanafuda cards wet when using them.

It is also important to note that Nintendo also sells Kabufuda decks under the Daitoryou brand: It would be indicated by the characters "株札" on the label. These decks are not hanafuda decks and cannot be used to play all hanafuda games.

Tengu

Their second class brand is Tengu, also known as Marufuku Tengu. It features a character of Japanese folklore called the Tengu on the label. It is also interesting to note that the Tengu is commonly used in names by various hanafuda manufacturers, due to it being a secret term for hanafuda in general. During the times when playing cards were banned, a buyer in an undercover hanafuda shop would rub their nose as an indication to the seller that they would like to buy a hanafuda deck. Nintendo's Tengu deck is characterized by a matte, papery finish on the front, while still featuring the same glossy finish on the back as a Daitoryou deck.

Both the Daitouryou and Tengu brands come in a wood-colored plastic case that has doors on both ends of the deck that can be opened and closed. The color of the doors also indicate the color of the back of the deck.

Miyako No Hana

Finally, Nintendo's budget hanafuda brand is Miyako No Hana. It doesn't sport an image of a political ruler, but is rather more traditional, featuring cherry flowers and willow branches with a river on the background. This deck is characterized by a matte, papery finish on the front, and a less glossy, somewhat matte finish on the back. This deck is a popular choice for those who want a Nintendo hanafuda deck at a low price, or for those who don't like glossy cards.

The Miyako no Hana brand comes in a two-piece plastic box that do not close together shut. The top part is made of clear plastic; the bottom part used to be of the same color as the back of the deck, but since 2014 it was changed to clear colorless plastic as well.

Nintendo's Special Hanafuda Deck Designs

20th Anniversary Gion Festival Special Sale Commemorative Set (197X)

Sometime in the 1970's, Nintendo gave away special two-deck hanafuda sets as commemorative gifts to party attendants for the 20th Anniversary Gion Festival Special Sale. They came in paulownia wood boxes, and each deck was wrapped in gold or silver foil. A leaflet was inserted into the deck, explaining the purpose of the set and as a personal message from Hiroshi Yamauchi himself. Because this set was not meant to be a retail product, it is extremely rare.

Kin-Gin (Gold and Silver Hanafuda) (1970's)

Sometime in the late 1970's, Nintendo released special two-deck hanafuda sets with standard designs but printed in foil paper. The decks came in gold and silver colored backs. Not much is known about these decks, how they were distributed, or when it was introduced or discontinued.

MarioHanafuda

Club Nintendo Hanafuda (2007, 2013)

In 2007, Nintendo released special Mario-themed hanafuda cards through their Club Nintendo service. Once a person accumulated 400 points in Japan, they could get the Mario cards for free. The deck featured Mario characters on all the high-scoring cards in the deck, while keeping the other cards mostly the same as in a standard hanafuda deck. The label resembles that of the Daitouryou brand, but with Mario posing instead of Napoleon, and various video game elements incorporated into the label design. The deck only came with a red back; a black back version would be released only in Japan around 2013.

The characters that were featured in the hanafuda set included (from clockwise top right in the image): Bowser, Mario, Yoshi, Lakitu, Luigi and Waluigi, Paragoomba, Toadies, Boo, Donkey Kong, Wario, Blooper, Koopa Troopa, Peach and Toad, and Piranha Plant.

In December of 2008, Nintendo opened up Club Nintendo in North America. The Mario Hanafuda cards were available among many other prizes. It, along with Game & Watch Collection, were the most expensive products available at 800 points each.

Nintendo Kyoto Development Complex Building Completion Commemorative Set (2014)

This two-deck set featured a large paulownia box with Mario and various hanafuda designs engraved into the lid of the box. Inside are two hanafuda decks- one with a gold back and one with a silver back- and a small plaque commemorating the completion of the construction of the Nintendo Kyoto Development Complex on June 2014. Each card featured outlines of the standard hanafuda designs hot-stamped with either gold (for the gold deck) or silver (for the silver deck). Because this set was not meant as a retail product, it is extremely rare.

Mario Hanafuda (2015)

In 2015, Nintendo released another special Mario-themed hanafuda deck, this time as a retail product instead of a giveaway for the Club Nintendo service. It differs from the Club Nintendo deck in that all of the cards in the deck feature Mario characters, instead of just the high-scoring cards. The illustrations are also different from those in the Club Nintendo deck, the only exception being the Bowser december card, which was only a slightly edited version of that of the Club Nintendo deck. It comes in both red and back backs.

Hanafuda Houou (Nintendo Museum Exclusive Deck) (2024)

This deck can only be purchased inside the Nintendo Museum. It is packaged in a large blue box bearing the Nintendo Museum logo. The deck comes only in black backs. However, the deck is unique in that it features the same hot-stamped gold outlines on all of the cards as the Nintendo Kyoto Development Complex Commemorative set.

Trivia

  • One of Nintendo's first video games "Super Mario Bros." pays tribute to Hanafuda with the Fire Flower & Piranha Plant.
  • Nintendo has continued its historic tradition of Hanafuda in many card-based video games, like Arcana, Yu-gi-Oh! and Pokemon card games, and many more featured, some featured here .
  • You can also find odes to it in non-card Action/Adventure titles like Super Mario Bros 3. Besides it's power-ups & iconic enemies, SMB 3 has a mini-game called Mario's Matching Game where you match up cards like coins, 1-up blocks, Starman, mushrooms, and yes, even flowers.

List of video games featuring Hanafuda

64Hanafuda

The following are a list of video games on Nintendo consoles and handhelds with Hanafuda in them.

Unofficial releases

Neither the Family Computer nor the Famicom Disk System received official Hanafuda games. However, both consoles received unlicensed releases containing adult content. These games were:

  • Bishoujo Hanafuda Club Vol. 1 : Oichokabu Hen - Famicom Disk System (Japan only)
  • Bishoujo Hanafuda Club Vol. 2 : Koi Koi Bakappana Hen - Famicom Disk System (Japan only)
  • Hanafuda Yuukyou Den: Nagarebana Oryuu - Famicom (Japan only)
  • Hayama Reiko - Katsuragi Mayako no AV Hanafuda Club - Famicom (Japan only)

Legacy

See also

External links