Hanafuda
A Japanese 48-card deck divided into 12 suits, one for each month of the year. Each suit depicts a seasonal flower or plant. Multiple completely different games are played with this deck.
The 48-Card Deck
12 suits of 4 cards each. Within each suit, cards are ranked by type: Bright, Animal, Ribbon, Plain.
| Month | Suit (Flower) | Bright | Animal | Ribbon | Plains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Pine | Crane + Sun | — | Red Poetry | 2 |
| February | Plum Blossom | — | Bush Warbler | Red Poetry | 2 |
| March | Cherry Blossom | Cherry Curtain | — | Red Poetry | 2 |
| April | Wisteria | — | Cuckoo | Red | 2 |
| May | Iris | — | Bridge | Red | 2 |
| June | Peony | — | Butterflies | Blue | 2 |
| July | Bush Clover | — | Boar | Red | 2 |
| August | Pampas Grass | Full Moon | Geese | — | 2 |
| September | Chrysanthemum | — | Sake Cup | Blue | 2 |
| October | Maple | — | Deer | Blue | 2 |
| November | Willow | Rain Man | Swallow | Lightning | 1 |
| December | Paulownia | Phoenix | — | — | 3 |
Totals: 5 Brights, 9 Animals, 10 Ribbons, 24 Plains = 48 cards.
Ribbon types:
- Red Poetry (Akatan): Pine, Plum, Cherry — marked with calligraphy
- Plain Red: Wisteria, Iris, Bush Clover
- Blue (Aotan): Peony, Chrysanthemum, Maple
- Lightning (special): Willow (November)
Games
- Go-Stop — Korean hanafuda (Hwatu deck). Most popular card game in South Korea. Go/Stop decision: press on for bigger rewards or bank winnings. 2–3 players.
- Hana-Awase — The base matching game. Collect cards by suit, highest point value wins.
- Koi-Koi — Two-player matching game. Complete a yaku (scoring pattern), then choose: stop and score, or call “koi-koi” to continue for higher stakes.
- Oicho-Kabu — Betting game using month values (mod 10). Closest to 9 wins. Origin of the word “Yakuza.”
Attribution
Hanafuda. Traditional Japanese playing cards, origins in the 17th century. Public domain. Rules confirmed from Pagat.com and Wikipedia.