Hanafuda [花札] or Hana-karuta [花かるた], lit. “flower cards,” are Japanese karuta (playing cards) used to play a wide variety of games, similarly to the standard Western playing card [トランプ, ‘trump’] format. Unlike Western playing cards, which consist of 4 suits of 13 cards each, however, the standard hanafuda deck consists of 12 suits of 4 cards each.
Each individual suit, said to represent a month of the year, is themed around a particular plant, and has its own distribution of card types. For instance, the 
Pine suit has one Bright card, one Poetry Ribbon, and two Chaff, whereas the 
Willow suit has one Bright, one Plain Ribbon, one Animal, and one Chaff. This asymmetrical suit structure is taken advantage of in many games, whose strategies revolve around capturing specific yaku [役 - やく] of cards within and across types and suits.
For a list of different hanafuda variations and how they differ from the standard pattern, see Hanafuda Variations.
For the Korean version of hanafuda, see Hwatu.
For a list of games that may be played using hanafuda, see Hanafuda Games.
¶ Composition
The following chart displays the cards in their standard order and categorization; note however that other suit arrangements and categorizations of cards exist, depending on the game in question.
| # | Month | Icon | Plant | Bright | Animal | Ribbon | Chaff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January | |
Pine |  |
- |  |
  |
| 2 | February |  |
Plum Blossom | - |  |
 |
  |
| 3 | March |  |
Cherry Blossom |  |
- |  |
  |
| 4 | April |  |
Wisteria | - |  |
 |
  |
| 5 | May |  |
Iris | - |  |
 |
  |
| 6 | June |  |
Peony | - |  |
 |
  |
| 7 | July |  |
Bush Clover | - |  |
 |
  |
| 8 | August |  |
Susuki Grass |  |
 |
- |   |
| 9 | September |  |
Chrysanthemum | - |  |
 |
  |
| 10 | October |  |
Maple | - |  |
 |
  |
| 11 | November | |
Willow |  |
 |
 |
 |
| 12 | December |  |
Paulownia |  |
- | - |    |
¶ Suits
As described above, there are usually 12 suits in a hanafuda deck, each visually represented by a plant or flower on the face of the card (see composition chart above).
These suits represent the 12 months of the year; more specifically, the 12 month numbers. This means that by remembering which plant represents which month, a hanafuda deck could be used as if there were numbers on the cards. This is especially required when playing Sequence and Showdown games.
Depending on the type of game used, and the region the game was played in, the sequence of the months could differ.
¶ Types
In addition to the suits, hanafuda decks are categorized by their types, which are denoted by various animals and objects on the card that are not a plant/flower.
Typically, there are 4 types of cards:
- Chaff [カス, kasu] - Also known as Junks, Dregs, Plains, Basics, etc. They are so named because they are typically the lowest scoring cards in the deck, usually worth only 1 point per card, or even none. They are visually characterized by having no other things on the face of the cards except for the plant/flower.
An exception to this is the Chaff of Willow, which depicts a thunderstorm instead of willows, and is colored red and black. This card, called the Lightning card, is used as a wild card in some games.
-
Ribbons [短冊, tanzaku] - Also known as Scrolls, Slips, Strips, or simply Tanzaku. Visually represented by a strip of paper called tanzaku on the face of the cards, which come in 3 variants: Red with writing on them, Red without writing on them, and Blue (which is usually colored purple or black). They are typically the second least scoring cards in the deck, usually worth 5 points per card.
-
Animals [たね, tane, possibly meaning ‘subject’] - Also called Seeds or Tens [十, tou]. Visually represented by an animal, or object on the face of the cards. They are typically the second highest scoring cards in the deck, usually worth 10 points per card.
-
Brights [光, hikari] - Also called Lights. Characterized by being the highest scoring cards in the deck, usually worth 20 points per card. They are visually indistinguishable from Animals, and they vary between different games. The standard assignment of brights are the ones used in Hachi-hachi, and there are 5 of them: The Crane, the Curtain, the Full Moon, the Rainman, and the Phoenix.
¶ Poems [古歌, waka]
In old Hanafuda decks and some regional Hanafuda patterns, some of the Chaff cards contain poems written on them. These poems are only decorative, and have no purpose in any traditional game played with hanafuda known to date.
They are thought to have been devised as a way to attract people into buying them, as people at the time were fascinated with poetry, and as soon as poetry fell out of fashion among hanafuda players, manufacturers started removing the poems from the hanafuda designs.
The standard hanafuda pattern does not have these poems.
¶ Wild Cards [鬼札 onifuda, lit. “demon card”]
Usually, there are no included Wild Cards in a Hanafuda deck outside of the 48 cards; In games where wild cards are required, at least one of the cards within the 48 cards of the deck are used. For example, in [Mushi], the Chaff of Willow is used as a wild card.
However, certain regional hanafuda patterns included a Wild Card outside of the 48 cards. In Echigobana and Echigokobana, the Wild Card is depicted by a monster thought to be a namahage [生剥]. In Awabana, the Wild Card is depicted by Kintaro [金太郎].
¶ Using Hanafuda as a Substitute for Other Decks
¶ As a Kabufuda Substitute
Since most Kabufuda games use only the numbers on the cards, A hanafuda deck can be used to play Kabufuda games, since each flower represents a month of the year, which corresponds to a number in a kabufuda deck. In games where special cards are used, Bright cards are typically used as their substitute.
¶ As a Mekurifuda Substitute
Hanafuda decks can and have been used to play Mekuri-kei fishing games. It is for this reason that theory that Hanafuda was used as a substitute for Mekurifuda after they have been banned by the government was created.
However, historical evidence suggests that games using Hanafuda and games using Mekurifuda decks coexisted in the Kamigata region of Japan. There is also another theory that Mekurifuda were used as a substitute for playing hanafuda games, not the other way around.
Each flower represents a month of the year, which corresponds to a number in a mekurifuda deck.
The standard month sequence can be used in games where the type of cards rarely matter, such as Yomi-type, Kabu-type, and Kingo-type games. However, in games where the exact structure of a mekurifuda deck is required, the Nagoya month sequence is used, as described below.
| Mekurifuda Number |
Hanafuda Month |
Flower Icon |
Flower Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Dragon) | January | |
Pine |
| 2 | February | |
Willow |
| 3 | March | |
Cherry Blossom |
| 4 | April | |
Wisteria |
| 5 | May | |
Iris |
| 6 | June | |
Paulownia |
| 7 | July | |
Bush Clover |
| 8 | August | |
Susuki Grass |
| 9 | September | |
Chrysanthemum |
| 10 (Maid) | October | |
Maple |
| 11 (Horse) | November | |
Peony |
| 12 (King) | December | |
Plum Blossom |
In the Nagoya month sequence, four of the months were shuffled about. The purpose seems to be so that the Willow suit, which has three scoring cards, takes the role of the number 2 in a mekurifuda deck, which also has three scoring cards (it is also worth mentioning that it is impossible to play certain mekuri games with a hanafuda deck if the standard month sequence is used, unless one junk of each month is marked to distinguish it from the other), and that the Phoenix card takes the role of the 6 of Clubs in a mekurifuda deck, which is usually overprinted with a gold 壽 (kotobuki, ‘longevity’).
The highest scoring card of each month (except for Willow; it’s the Swallow card) correspond to the Clubs suit of mekurifuda.
The ribbons, as well as the Geese card and the yellow Paulownia chaff, correspond to the Swords suit of mekurifuda.
The Rainman corresponds to the 2 of Coins.
Other cards correspond to the Junks of mekurifuda.