Above: December (the imperial Japanese plant kiri), June (with blood-red peonies over one of which two yellow butterflies are hovering) and May (blue Iris) cards from a set of ‘Flower Cards’ manufactured by Nintendo, Japan, 2008

Japanese Playing Cards

“The playing-cards of Japan, the well-known hana-gamta or ‘flower cards,’ have a similar ancestry to those of China. One card in each of the twelve suits, which are named after flowers corresponding with the twelve months, retains a device called a ‘tanzaku’, with its appropriate number in the series of months...”  Stewart Culin: The Origin of Playing Cards, 1895

Portuguese explorers reached Japan in 1542 or 1543 bringing their playing cards with them. Their cards were banned in a prohibition of 1648; however, they re-appeared in disguised forms and evolved into several variant types. Local versions of Portuguese cards with dragons on the Aces either depicted court figures in contemporary western costume or were the product of extremely crude interpretations in local idiom.

In general terms, Japanese playing cards are of two types: 'Awase' or 'matching pairs' cards and Portuguese or Spanish-derived 'Dragon' type cards. These have dragons on the aces and are believed to have originated in Spain, Italy or Portugal. There are several varieties of the latter type, including 'Mekuri' or 'Tensho' cards, 'Unsun karuta', 'Kabufuda' and 'Hana Fuda' cards.