Hanafuda
Hanafuda (花札) is a Japanese gambling card game which became popular during the height of the Yakuza era. The yakuza actually took their name from the hanafuda deck, as the three cards "ya," "ku," and "za" make up the worst possible hand in the game. The word "yakuza" was used for anything that was bad by hanafuda players.
Most are made by the game company Nintendo. Hanafuda was developed from a combination of a traditional court game involving matching plants and animals associated with seasons, and with Western-style playing cards, introduced by Dutch sailors. It is commonly played in Hawaii, and also in Korea under the name Go Stop. It is a four-person game, and is often paired cross-table.
Game play
Cards
There are twelve suits, representing months. Each is designated a flower, and each suit has four cards. Typically, there are two 'normal' cards worth no points, one ribbon-card worth ten points, and a third is a special worth 25 points.
| Month | Flower | Cards |
| January | Pine | 2 Normal, 1 Poetry Ribbon and 1 Special: Crane and Sun |
| February | Plum Blossoms | 2 Normal, 1 Poetry Ribbon and 1 Special: Nightingale in a Tree |
| March | Cherry Blossoms | 2 Normal, 1 Poetry Ribbon and 1 Special: Banner and Flowers |
| April | Wisteria | 2 Normal, 1 Red Ribbon and 1 Special: Cuckoo in a Tree |
| May | Iris | 2 Normal, 1 Red Ribbon and 1 Special: Water Iris at Dock |
| June | Peony | 2 Normal, 1 Red Ribbon and 1 Special: Butterflies |
| July | Clover | 2 Normal, 1 Purple Ribbon and 1 Special: Boar |
| August | Pampas | 2 Normal, 2 Specials: Birds in Flight, Full Moon with Red Sky |
| September | Chrysanthemum | 2 Normal, 1 Purple Ribbon and 1 Special: Poetry Sake Cup |
| October | Maple | 2 Normal, 1 Purple Ribbon and 1 Special: Deer under Tree |
| November | Willow | 1 Red Ribbon and 3 Specials: Wild card, Swallow, Man with Umbrella Strolling (Rainman) |
| December | Paulownia | 3 Normal (one yellow-colored), Special: Phoenix |
There are many other scoring version and games you can play with this deck, such as Koi-Koi. This above mentions scoring scheme is the Lana'i, Hawaii version.
Play
Play follows by each player being dealt 8 cards, and the table receiving 8 cards face-up. On a player's turn, they may match any one card on the table with one in their hands, and take both cards into their point pile. Card matching is by suit, any of the 4 can match each. The exception is November's Wild, which will match any card in the deck. When this is used, there will be two unmatching cards that will now be paired. The player then draws 1 card, which they put face down on the table. If this card matches any in the table's draw, then they get to keep both.
Special Scores
If certain combination of cards are won during play, extra points apply. Often, players will be paired across the table when this rule is used, to increase the chance of getting combos. Below is a list of special with point values.
| Points | Combo Name | Card Combo |
| 10 | Ribbon Awo | All 3 Purple Ribbons |
| 10 | Ribbon Kusa | All 3 Red Ribbons |
| 10 | Ribbon Sugawara | All 3 Poetry Ribbons |
| 20 | Awo | Sake Cup, Butterflies, Deer |
| 20 | Kusa | Dock, Swallow, Boar |
| 20 | Sugawara | Banner, Crane, Nightingale |
| 50 | Noarashi | Deer, Birds in Flight, Boar |
| 50 | Tsukihana | Banner, Full Moon, Sake Cup |
Winner deals the next round!
External links
- Hanafuda Cards – This website sells Hanafuda cards