Hana Fuda - Japan
Hana Fuda playing cards hand-made by Patricia Kirk, 2003
Hana Fuda playing cards based on 19th century Japanese originals.
The 12 suits are named after flowers corresponding with the twelve months.


Above: a selection of Hana Fuda playing cards hand-made by Patricia Kirk, Mount Hood Playing Card Company, U.S.A., 2003. The total number of cards is usually 48, plus optional extra cards.

Above: Hanafuda cards on matchbox boxes. Courtesy Rex Pitts.

By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
View ArticlesCurator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.