Sumo Wrestling
Traditional Japanese Sumo Wrestling playing cards with photograph of different wrestler on each card.
Japanese Sumo Wrestling playing cards published by Japan Sumo Association with a colour photograph of a different wrestler on each card, whose name or ceremonial rank appears beneath in Japanese script, such as “Dragon King”. The more successful wrestlers were featured as the J, Q or K. The reverse is an artist’s impression of a sumo dohyō (the arena in which sumo wrestling bouts take place).
Above: traditional Sumo Wrestling playing cards published by Japan Sumo Association, manufactured by Nintendo, early to mid-1970s. The Joker is a senior referee.
By Jon Randall
Australia • Member since May 28, 2020 • Contact
From 6 or 7 years of age I enjoyed playing cards with my family, and still enjoy a variety of games today with various groups and individuals. I contribute my competitive nature to enjoying games … it’s not that I like to win, I dislike losing! I was barely 10 years old when my great Uncle left me a small collection of playing cards and that was the starting point of my collecting. The competitive streak in me helped develop me into a competitive swimmer that sent me to various places around the world, including a 6 year stint in the US, where for much of that time I was at university. I’ve always enjoyed car boots flea markets, yard sales, charity shops etc., and my eye would never miss a pack of playing cards. Even after my swimming career finished I coached at a high level for many years and continued enjoying the discovery of some great finds around the world. For decades my collection continued to grow, despite selling a portion of it via eBay over the years. It wasn’t until post 2010 that I realised, mostly due to correspondence with Australian friends, that there were so many single playing card collectors. This intrigued me. I had so many packs of cards at home that I made the bold decision to share a good number with singles collectors, and subsequently listed around 7000 for sale on eBay. That did make a dent in my collection, but there’s still around 30,000 packs taking up quite a bit of space at home. Crazy? Yes, but I’ve seen bigger hoards a few times! There’s so many I surprise myself finding packs I forgot I had when I look in a box I’d not seen in a while.
My eBay IDs if you’d like to look are “worldwide_playing_cards” & “playing_cards_world”►
Related Articles
ViVa Bourg
A distinctive deck of cards for a specific promotion.
Dancing
“Dancing” playing cards manufactured by Nintendo for Torii Dance School, Osaka.
Morinaga Hakuho playing cards
Artistic playing cards attributed to Morinaga Hakuho and printed by Nintendo, c.1985.
Banjo Cards
Images of the peg heads from 4-string banjos from Akira Tsumura’s renowned collection.
Kyoto Souvenir Deck
Kyoto Souvenir playing cards by Nintendo aimed at the up and coming tourist industry, 1950s.
Seiko fashion cards
Men's and ladies fashion playing cards published for the Seiko Corporation by Nintendo, Japan, 1971....
Nippon Beer
Nippon Beer brewery playing cards published by Nintendo, Japan, 1960s.
Suzuki playing cards
Suzuki playing cards produced by Nintendo, Japan, 1978.
Loco Jumbo playing cards
54 different colour photographs of steam locomotives from around the world.
Crazyrider playing cards
Stylised portrayal of rock musicians from the 1980s.
Unimol playing cards
Advertising pack for a pharmaceutical company, with brightly coloured courts.
Laser Clay playing cards
Pack promoting the Laser Clay Shooting System created by Nintendo in 1973.
Back to Country
Advertising playing cards for a Japanese fashion house, with reversed colours.
Ainu culture
A terrific deck of cards made by Nintendo c.1979 with original designs on every card showing the Ain...
Akadama Honey Wine by Nintendo
Suntory Akadama Honey Wine playing cards manufactured by Nintendo, Japan, c.1970.
Japanese Kurofuda 黑札
The name means “Black cards”, which is especially true of you look at the suit of batons. The horse...
Akahachi
After Mekuri games such as Unsun Karuta and Tenshô Karuta were banned by the authorities, especially...
Kabufuda
Kabufuda playing cards manufactured by Nintendo, Japan
Hanafuda Flower Cards
Japanese Flower Cards (Hanafuda) made by Nintendo, Japan, 2008.
Japanese Playing Cards
Japanese playing cards include: 'Awase' or 'matching pairs' cards and Portuguese or Spanish-derived ...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 60 days