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Hanafuda

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Hanafuda (花札) are playing cards of Japanese origin, used to play a number of games. The name literally translates as 'flower cards'.

History

Though refined card games were played in Japan by the nobility since its early eras, they were not commonly used for gambling, nor played by the lower classes. This changed, however, in the 18th year of Tenmon (A.D. 1549) when Saint Francisco Xavier landed in Japan. The crew of his ship had carried a set of Hombre (48-card Portuguese) playing cards from Europe, and card games, or more specifically, gambling card games, became extremely popular with the Japanese. When Japan subsequently closed off all contact with the Western world in 1633, foreign playing cards were banned.

Despite the ban, gambling with cards remained highly popular. Private gambling during the Tokugawa Shogunate was illegal. Because playing card games per se were not banned, new cards were created with different designs to avoid the restriction. For example, an anonymous game player designed a card game known as "Unsun Karuta". These cards were decorated with Chinese art, each depicting Chinese warriors, weaponry, armor, and dragons. This deck consisted of 75 cards, and was not as popular as the Western card games had been simply because of the difficulty of becoming familiar with the system. When gambling with a particular card deck design became too popular, the government banned those cards to restrict gambling activity, which then prompted the creation of new cards. This cat and mouse game between the government and rebellious gamblers resulted in the creation of many differing designs.

Through the rest of the Edo era through the Meiwa, Anei, and Tenmei eras (roughly 1765-1788), a game called Mekuri Karuta took the place of Unsun Karuta. Consisting of a 48-card deck divided into 4 sets of 12, it became wildly popular and was one of the most common forms of gambling during this time period. In fact, it became so commonly used for gambling that it was banned in 1791, during the Kansei Era.

Over the next few decades, several new card games were developed and subsequently banned due to the fact that they were used almost exclusively for gambling purposes. However, the government began to realize that some form of card games would always be played by the populace, and began to relax their laws against gambling. The eventual result of all this was a game called Hanafuda, which combined traditional Japanese games with Western-style playing cards. Because hanafuda cards do not have numbers (the main purpose is to associate images) and the long length to complete a game, it has a partially limited use for gambling. However, it is still possible to gamble by assigning points for completed image combinations.

By this point, however, card games were not nearly as popular as they had been due to past governmental repression.

In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai for the purposes of producing and selling hand-crafted Hanafuda cards painted on mulberry tree bark. Though it took awhile to catch on, soon the Yakuza began using Hanafuda cards in their gambling parlors, and card games became popular in Japan again.[citation needed]

Today, Hanafuda is commonly played in Hawaii and Korea, though under different names. In Hawaii, it is called Sakura, Higobana and sometimes Hanafura; in Korea it is 화투 (Hwatu).[citation needed] It is a four-person game, and is often paired cross-table, though the Korean and Japanese versions are usually played with three players, with two-person variants. Despite its focus on video games, Nintendo still produces the cards, although this business is diminishing. In 2006, Nintendo published Clubhouse Games for the Nintendo DS, which included Koi-Koi.

The following rules are by no means official: there are many different games played with Hanafuda, and there are as many different variations as there are players.

Game play

Cards

There are twelve suits, representing months. Each is designated a flower, and each suit has four cards. Typically, there are two 'normal' cards worth one point, one poetry ribbon card worth five points, and a final special card worth ten or twenty points. The point values could be considered unnecessary and arbitrary, as the most popular games only concern themselves with certain combinations of taken cards.

Month Flower Cards
January Matsu Pine 2 Normal (1 point), 1 Poetry Ribbon (5 points) and 1 Special: Crane and Sun (20 points)
February Ume blossoms 2 Normal (1 point), 1 Poetry Ribbon (5 points) and 1 Special: Warbler in a Tree (10 points)
March Sakura Cherry blossoms 2 Normal (1 point), 1 Poetry Ribbon (5 points) and 1 Special: Sakura Banner (20 points)
April Wisteria 2 Normal (1 point), 1 Red Ribbon (5 points) and 1 Special: Cuckoo in a Tree (10 points)
May Iris 2 Normal (1 point), 1 Red Ribbon (5 points) and 1 Special: Water Iris at Dock (10 points)
June Peony 2 Normal (1 point), 1 Red Ribbon (5 points) and 1 Special: Butterflies (10 points)
July Bush Clover 2 Normal (1 point), 1 Purple Ribbon (5 points) and 1 Special: Boar (10 points)
August Japanese Pampas Grass 2 Normal (1 point), 2 Specials: Geese in Flight (10 points), Full Moon with Red Sky (20 points)
September Chrysanthemum 2 Normal (1 point), 1 Purple Ribbon (5 points) and 1 Special: Poetry Sake cup (10 points)
October Maple 2 Normal (1 point), 1 Purple Ribbon (5 points) and 1 Special: Deer under Tree (10 points)
November Willow 1 Red Ribbon (5 points) and 3 Specials: Lightning (1 point), Swallow (10 points), Man with Umbrella Strolling (Rainman, 20 points)
December Paulownia 3 Normal (1 point, one colored differently than the others), Special: Chinese Phoenix (20 points)

In Hawaii, there are cards of a Hawaiian version, too. In Korea, the November and December suits are reversed.

Play

There are many scoring version and games you can play with this deck, such as Koi-Koi. The rules below, however, are basic rules for Koi-Koi, the most popular Hanafuda game in Japan and Korea. There are a few variations to these rules, typically regarding point value or number of cards dealt, and the ones presented here are rules for two player Koi-Koi posted on Nintendo of Japan's site [1].

The object of the game is to form special card combinations called 'yaku' from cards accumulated in your point pile. You can gain cards in your point pile by matching cards in your hand, or drawn from the draw pile, with cards on the table. Once you have made a yaku, you can stop to cash in your points, or keep going (referred to as 'koi-koi,' hence the name of the game) to form additional yaku for more points.

An initial dealer (called the 'oya', or 'parent'), is decided upon when the game starts. This can be done with any method (rock-paper-scissors, dice roll) the players agree upon. A hanafuda-specific method involves random card draw: each player draws a single card; the player who draws a card from the earliest month is the oya.

To deal, the oya deals eight cards to his opponent (face down), the table (face up), then to himself (face down), though this is normally done two or four cards at a time. The rest of the cards are set aside as a draw pile, and then play begins starting with the oya.

On a player's turn, he may match by suit (i.e. month or flower) any one card in his hand with one on the table, and take both into his point pile. Alternatively, he may discard any one card from his hand face up to the table (which is his only choice if he can not match anything). Having done this, he then draws one card from the draw pile. If this card matches any card now on the table, he must match that card and keep both for his point pile; otherwise, he must discard it face up to the table. In the event that the drawn card matches more than one card on the table, the player gets the choice as to which card to match and therefore keep in addition to the drawn card.

After a player's turn ends, if he made at least one yaku that turn, that player must then make a choice. He may stop play and gain all the points he is entitled to from the yaku he has, or he can choose for play to continue (calling 'koi-koi') in an effort to gain more points.

Should he koi-koi and gain another yaku, his points are doubled. He may continue making this choice so long as he keeps gaining yaku; each time he calls koi-koi, the multiplier for his score increases by one. However, if his opponent gains a yaku before him, his opponent now makes this decision. The score multiplier applies to him as well, and should he decide to end the hand, he gains his points while the other player gains none.

In essence, each time koi-koi is called, the current hand's score multiplier is increased by one - the first time it is called, any points gained are doubled; the second and they are tripled, and so forth. Furthermore, once a player gains a yaku, he gets the choice to call the hand or koi-koi. Only the player who calls the hand gains points; regardless of how many yaku a player may have, if he did not end the hand, he gains no points.

The winner of the hand becomes the new oya, and assuming both players agree, a new hand is dealt. Should both players ever run out of cards to play, without having formed a yaku on the last play, no points are awarded to either player, and the next hand begins with the same oya.

Some groups, when gambling, will require the player whose score was multiplied to pay a proportionately larger amount of the winnings (i.e. a player who continued play twice would pay twice as much as the other player, since his score would have been doubled).

Special Cards

The Sake Cup is unique in that, though technically classified as a 10-point card, it counts as both a 10-point card and a 1-point card at the same time. Some rules allow the Sake Cup to count as a 10-point card and two 1-point cards at the same time.

Additionally, November's 1-point card, the Lightning, is sometimes used as a wild card that can match any card in some games.

Yaku Listing

If certain combinations of cards are won during play, extra points apply. Sometimes, players will be paired across the table when this rule is used (in multi-player Koi-Koi) to increase the chance of getting combos. Below is a list of special combinations with point values.

Some yaku can be considered extensions of others. For example, one may qualify for both Akatan and Tan by having the Akatan combination as well as two additional five-point cards. In these cases, players are only awarded points for the highest value yaku the associated cards qualify for.

Points Combo Name Card Combo
5 Sankō (三光) Any three 20-point cards excluding the Rainman (Willow's 20-point card).
8 Shikō (四光) The four 20-point cards which exclude the Rainman (Willow's 20-point card).
7 Ame-Shikō (雨四光) Any four 20-point cards including the Rainman (Willow's 20-point card).
10 Gokō (五光) All five 20-point cards.
5 Inoshikachō (猪鹿蝶) The Boar, the Deer, and the Butterflies (the 10-point cards from Clover, Maple, and Peony, respectively). One additional point is awarded for every additional 10-point card.
1 Tane (タネ) Any five 10-point cards, such as animals, the Docks (Iris), or the Sake Cup (Chrysanthemum). One additional point is awarded for every additional 10-point card.
5 Akatan (赤タン) All 3 Red Poetry Ribbons (found in Pine, Ume, and Sakura). One additional point is awarded for every additional 5-point card.
5 Aotan (青タン) All 3 Purple/Blue Ribbons (found in Peony, Crysanthemum, and Maple). One additional point is awarded for every additional 5-point card.
10 Akatan, Aotan no Chōfuku (赤短・青短の重複) All 3 Red Poetry Ribbons and all 3 Purple/Blue Ribbons: the combination of Aka-tan and Ao-tan. One additional point is awarded for every additional 5-point card.
1 Tan (タン) Any five 5-point cards, which includes all Ribbons. One additional point is awarded for every additional 5-point card.
5 Tsukimi-zake (月見酒) The Moon and the Sake Cup (Pampas' 20-point card and Crysanthemum's 10-point card). Cumulative with Hanami-zake.
5 Hanami-zake (花見酒) The Sakura Banner and the Sake Cup (Sakura's 20-point card and Crysanthemum's 10-point card). Cumulative with Tsukimi-zake.
1 Kasu (カス) Any ten 1-point cards, which are all normal (or literally, 'junk') cards. One additional point is awarded for every additional 1-point card.

Instant Wins and Redeals

There are two special yaku such that, if a player is dealt them before play begins, he is immediately awarded points. Play then ends before it starts, and the game continues to the next hand. These two combinations are as follows.

Points Combo Name Card Combo
6 Teshi (手四) Being dealt four cards of the same suit.
6 Kuttsuki (くっつき) Being dealt four pairs of cards with matching suits.

See also

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