Modern Designed Hanafuda "Japanese Flower Card Game" by COCHAE

Popular Japanese toy designer Kochae has designed "Hanafuda," a traditional Japanese card game in a new style.

It contains a total of 50 cards: 4 cards for each of the 12 basic months of Hanafuda and 2 special cards.

Great not only for a gift and a fun time with family and friends but also for wall art displaying the cards in a frame.

*Please note that this items has an instruction but Japanese text only.

What is Hanafuda

The history of Hanafuda (another name in English is "flower cards") is said to have originated from a card game that Portuguese missionaries introduced to Japan together with guns and Christianity in the Azuchi-Momoyama era(1568-1600), and the current style of Hanafuda was established in the mid-Edo era(1603-1868).

Hanafuda has a total of 48 playing cards. The number of cards is a legacy of the Portuguese card game when there were 48 cards in a set.

The cards are designed to represent the 12 months of the year, and each month has four cards with different designs, each four cards having different point heights based on the complexity of the design.

Among the Hanafuda games, "Koi Koi," which is played by two players, is an intellectual game that is most popular and easier to play for beginners and requires intuition, grit, gamesmanship, and composure.

How to Play "Koi Koi"

1. Decide player 1 who deals the card and draws first.
   The traditional way of deciding the player is as follows.
   Two players draw one card each from a total of 48 cards stacked face down.
   The player with the earliest month (the one with the smallest number of months) becomes Player 1.
   
   
2. Player 1 places cards as follows
   - 8 cards (face down) to Player 2
   - 8 cards (face down) to Player 1
   - 8 cards on the table (face up)
   - The remaining cards (face down) in a stack on the table  
   
   
3. Start with Player 1.
   If Player 1 has a card in the hand with the same month as the card on the table, player 1 puts that card on top of the card to gain two cards together.
   This is the basis of the game. Player 1 and 2 take turns doing this.
   When you get your cards together with the cards in your hand on the table, you need to refill the card from the card stack on the table to keep the cards on the table at eight.
   If there is no card on the table with the same month as your hand, just discard the card.
   Keep the cards you won so that your opponent can see them.
   
   
4. This process is repeated to create high point Yaku (combinations of cards) by matching the cards.