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Iroha Karuta for Hino City

Published August 23, 2024 Updated August 24, 2024

Special version of Iroha Karuta, a traditional Japanese matching game, made for Hino City, Tokyo.

1995 Japan Kyodo Karuta Topographical Card Games

Packs of Iroha Karuta don’t always have 96 cards and don’t always depict proverbs. The present set was made for Hino City, located in the western part of Tokyo. It depicts people, places, parks and amenities connected with Hino City. This type of Iroha Karuta appears to be called Kyodo Karuta. All the locations are marked on the accompanying map

The set retains the traditional format of an Iroha Karuta set, with yomifuda and torifuda, and a kana (circle) in the top right corner (also used on the map). In this example, the cards have brown borders and square corners, and the yomifuda have lengthy text in Japanese on the reverse

Iroha Karuta for Hino City by an unknown maker, c1995 Iroha Karuta for Hino City by an unknown maker, c1995
Card back and booklet cover

Above: Iroha Karuta for Hino City by an unknown maker, c1995. 2 x 46 cards + 2 blank cards + slip and booklet with text in Japanese + map of Hino City with Japanese text on the reverse , in decorated drop-lid box. Size: 70 x 100 mm.

See the box lid

See the slip

I was presented with these cards by two Japanese students visiting Edinburgh in July 1995. They had no idea that I collected playing cards and that this was the perfect gift for me!

Further Reading

Fuda Wiki: Iroha Karuta

Wikipedia: Hino, Tokyo

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532 Articles

By Roddy Somerville

Member since May 31, 2022

Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.


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