Hana Fuda & Divination...

Moonbow

A great idea to them in one deck so that you get to use two divination methods, as well as the card games. :)
 

Moonbow

Bernice said:
How unusual. I don't have this deck, but found the video really interesting. I suppose you could arrive at sets of four by other methods, but what struck me was that in the final (3) sets each set had two cards which were the same. Also one card in each set just had a banner with writing. It seemed to me that only the top animal cards were 'read'.

Perhaps some other spread could be devised whereby if two cards with the same image appeared, it would have a meaning different to if only one of them appeared. And the written-banner cards....... I wonder what they say?


Bee :)

Each month has two cards the same (December has 3), just plain with no banner (Tanzaku) or animal etc. In the card game they are only worth one point instead of 5 for the Tanzaku and 10 or 20 for the cards with more detail, like Phoenix, Crane etc. Though the point system is different for November and December. Wiki has a nice table showing the points system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanafuda

I suppose they could be smaller issues when reading the cards.

I agree that her meanings were vague and she did only seem to read the top card, but perhaps its a good starting place to work out a system.
 

Moonbow

Oh my word they are gorgeous!

Thanks for the links Kenji. The Kiri (Phoenix/Paulownia), and the Susuki (Pampas) are amazingly beautiful.

And.... just as a matter of curiosity how much are they?
 

kenji

Hi Eve:)

They were around 7,000 yen or so a couple of years ago, when Mr Matsui was still active (He retired recently). But now the price seems to be more than double...

Mr Shigeo Matsui was the last craftsman in Japan who could take on all the processes of making karuta by himself. You know, the cards are all coloured with stencils. And the paper of the back is folded over one by one by hand, to make a raised border around the face of the card -- like old Italian cards.

Though it may sound a bit strange, quality karuta cards (including Hana-fuda) are supposed to appeal not only to users' eyes and hands, but also to ears. In the play, a well-crafted card makes a pleasant snap sound when thrown down with vigour to another card on the board. Besides, brand-new handmade karuta packs smell quite good. Thus, karuta is made to be pleasing to all the senses but taste -- Well, in fact it may possibly taste good, too. I never tried that. (LOL)
 

Moonbow

And worth every yen Kenji.

Sounds a good price for a deck which is handmade in a traditional way and uses 'nearly' all the senses. :) This just makes me appreciate Hanafuda even more. Thank you to Mr Matsui for keeping this art alive.
 

Bernice

kenji said:
Hi Eve:) ...............
..............................................
Though it may sound a bit strange, quality karuta cards (including Hana-fuda) are supposed to appeal not only to users' eyes and hands, but also to ears. In the play, a well-crafted card makes a pleasant snap sound when thrown down with vigour to another card on the board. Besides, brand-new handmade karuta packs smell quite good. Thus, karuta is made to be pleasing to all the senses but taste -- Well, in fact it may possibly taste good, too. I never tried that. (LOL)
I can relate to this, if only regarding quality playing-card decks :). There's nothing like the buttery feel of, and soft 'phut', of placing well made cardstock slickly down on a table top.

Those linked images are really lovely Kenji.
Apparently the cards I ordered haven't been dispatched yet, but I think they must be on their way because they have been removed from the site page.


Bee :)
 

Milfoil

Moderator note

Moving this over to Oracles since it is a card based divination deck.

See you over there . . . :)
 

Bernice

Had no idea there were so many varieties of Hana Fuda designs. Found these Hana Fuda pics.

Play-cards+HanaFuda_1
http://www.dxpo-playingcards.com/xpo/hanafuda/images/CH-025b.jpg

Play-cards+HanaFuda_2
http://www.altacarta.com/trade/asia/M0014.jpg

Really attractive - are these from a deck?
http://www.jilla.org/uploaded_artfiles/13/800/hanafuda1680_01.jpg

Hana Fuda (very coloured). What deck is this?
http://whiteevil.net/yamamo/work/hanafuda/hana1.jpg

First pics at top appear to be different Hana Fuda decks.
http://thaiboardgame.net/forum/index.php?topic=6590.0

Mah Jong Playing cards (Scroll down). Further down, my Hana Fuda deck. (20 euros here)
http://www.altacarta.com/trade/asia001.html

Pretty Hana Fuda
http://www.spellenclub13.be/recensies/images/senjihanafuda.jpg

Tall Hana Fuda - lots of words.
http://hagakure1716.com/JP/opol/senshafuda/hana/images/img_hanafuda_main2.jpg

Bee :)
 

Moonbow

Some nice cards in those links Bee.

I would prefer that the colours in mine were brighter as the blue looks almost black, and also some of the lines aren't clear but otherwise I adore these little cards.

Kenji, do you know if there are other Hanafuda decks easily available?