Hanafuda 花札

The deck has 12 suits (one per month): pine (Jan), plum blossom (Feb), cherry blossom (Mar), wisteria (Apr), iris (May), peony (Jun), bush clover (Jul), silver grass (Aug), chrysanthemum (Sep), maple (Oct), willow (Nov), paulownia (Dec). Each suit has four cards. Koi-Koi: Deal eight cards each, place eight face-up on the table. Take turns matching a hand card with a table card of the same month, or playing one card to the table if no match. Capture pairs to build yaku (scoring combinations). Key yaku: Sankou/Three Lights (three bright cards), Hanami-zake and Tsukimi-zake (moon/sakura combinations), Tane (animal cards), Tan (ribbon cards), Kasu (plain cards). When you complete a yaku you may stop to score or say "koi-koi" to chase more points—but if the opponent scores first, you lose your turn's points. Hachi-Hachi (88) uses similar matching with different yaku.

Portuguese playing cards (carta) reached Japan in 1549. Edo gambling bans drove card evolution; hanafuda emerged in the mid-1800s with flower-and-month designs, evading literal card bans. In 1889 Fusajirō Yamauchi founded Nintendo in Kyoto to make hand-printed hanafuda. The cards became associated with yakuza gambling parlours but also with respectable New Year family play. Post-WWII, Nintendo diversified into toys and eventually video games, but hanafuda remained part of its heritage. Legend of Zelda hanafuda decks and limited-edition Nintendo sets are now collector items. Flower symbolism ties the cards to hanami (cherry-blossom viewing), tsukimi (moon viewing), and Japan's seasonal culture.

Prioritise capturing bright cards (hikari)—they form the highest yaku. Memorise the five highest yaku before playing: Sankou, Hanami-zake, Tsukimi-zake, Tane, Tan. The koi-koi gamble is riskiest when the opponent has already captured cards and could score soon. Match cards that deny the opponent useful months when you can. In Hachi-Hachi, track which months are still in play to estimate opponent strength.

Hanafuda is a New Year family game across Japan; yakuza films almost always feature hanafuda in gambling scenes. Nintendo's origin story makes these cards iconic for gamers. Limited-edition Nintendo decks (Mario, Zelda, Splatoon) are collector items. Flower symbolism connects to hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) and tsukimi (moon viewing). The game survives as both casual family play and nostalgic cultural artefact.