Kekoro [けころ] is a 2-player fishing-type game played with Hanafuda. Its yaku inventory has significant overlap with Tensho and Hachi, and its card values are the same as those used in Sudaoshi. The game is played for an indeterminate amount of time - generally as many rounds as it takes for one player to exceed their opponent’s cumulative score by 90 points.
¶ Setup
If gambling, the two players come to an agreement over how much to wager on the game. Each player puts up the same amount; the winner will take both shares.
Any other house rules should also be established at this point, in order to keep gameplay smooth and fair.
¶ Choosing the Dealer
There is no required method for selecting who is the first dealer, though a typical method in hanafuda games is to shuffle the deck and have both players draw one card each. The player who drew a suit for the earliest month becomes the dealer. If both players drew from the same suit, the player drawing the higher point card becomes the dealer. In cases where there is a tie, this process can be repeated.
The winner of each round becomes the dealer for the next round.
¶ Distributing the Initial Cards
Eight cards are distributed to each player, and eight to the table. While there is no required method for this distribution, it is common for the dealer to give four to their opponent, four to the table, four to themselves, and then repeat. Sometimes this is done in packets of two instead of four.
Note that there are no Lucky Hands - 手役 [てやく, teyaku] in Kekoro.
¶ Gameplay
Each round, the dealer is the first to play, with players taking alternate turns.
¶ Turns
On their turn, a player chooses a single card from their hand and plays it to the table.
- If it belongs to the same month as another card on the table, then the cards match, and this matching pair is moved to the player’s score pile.
- If the played card matches with two cards on the table, then the player may choose which one they capture.
- If the played card matches three cards on the table, then all three are captured along with the played card (this is to prevent cards from becoming ‘stuck’ on the table and unable to be captured). To help in recognising this case, three cards of the same month on the table are often collected into a small pile at the beginning of the round.
- If the played card does not match any card, then it remains on the table, and may subsequently be captured by other played cards.
If a card is played that matches something on the table, then the player must capture, as described above. However, there is no obligation to play a card that matches something, even if the player has one in their hand; they may, if they wish, elect to play a card that matches nothing on the table.
As is typical of hanafuda games, each player’s score pile should be kept face-up and laid out on the table, so that its contents are fully visible to all players. Ideally, the cards should also be arranged by type (Brights, Animals, Ribbons, and Chaff) to make detecting yaku easier.
After a card has been played from their hand, the player takes the top card of the draw pile, turns it face-up, and immediately plays it to the table in the same fashion.
¶ End of Round
The round ends when each player’s hand has run out of cards. At this point, each player adds up and records the total value of all their captured cards and yaku for the round. The scores for the round are added to the each player’s total scores for the game.
If neither player’s cumulative total score is at least 90 points greater than the opponents, the player with the greater score for the round becomes the dealer for the next round, and the competition continues.
There is one other condition that ends the round: If at any point in a round one player has scored 3 more yaku than the other, they may declare an instant victory, ending not just the round but the whole game.
¶ End of Game
Under normal circumstances, the game continues until the cumulative score of one player is greater than the other’s by at least 90 points, at which point the player with the greater score is declared the winner.
The game also ends immediately when a player claims victory by scoring 3 more yaku than the opponent in a given round, as stated above.
At this point, the victor claims the sum of money wagered at setup.
¶ Card Values
The card values in this game are the same as those used in Sudaoshi, which as in many hanafuda games, have varied over time.
| Card Type | Value | Number in Deck |
|---|---|---|
| Chaff | 10 | 24 |
 Curtain and  Phoenix |
10 | 2 |
 Crane,  Moon, and  Rain Man |
5 | 3 |
| Animals | 5 | 9 |
| Ribbons | 1 | 10 |
The total number of points doled out will be different each round due to each round ending before the draw pile has been exhausted.
Note that Jun Kusaba instead gives 8 points for each Chaff card and 5 points for the the Curtain and Phoenix, while keeping all other values the same.
¶ Yaku
Each yaku scored in a round is worth 30 points. The same card may be used in as many yaku as possible.
Most yaku in this game come in pairs of Ribbon and non-Ribbon variants; however, Four Seven Eight and Ten Seven Eight only have Ribbon forms.
| Name of Yaku | Composition |
|---|---|
| Mist Island 霧島 [きりしま, kirishima] |
   |
| Mist Island Ribbons 短の霧島 [たんのきりしま, tan no kirishima] |
   |
| Gundari グンダリ [ぐんだり, gundari] |
 |
| Gundari Ribbons 短のグンダリ [たんのぐんだり, tan no gundari] |
 The Kekoro rules in the 1921 Teikei Aru Hanzai No Chōsa replace the  Maple Ribbon with the  Wisteria Ribbon in this yaku, making it an imperfect pair with its non-Ribbon version. |
| Elder 御老中 [ごろうじゅう, gorōjū] |
  |
| Elder Ribbons 短の御老中 [たんのごろうじゅう, tan no gorōjū] |
  |
| Three Five Six 三五六 [さんごろう, sangorō] |
 |
| Three Five Six Ribbons 短の三五六 [たんのさんごろう, tan no sangorō] |
 |
| Five Four Six 五四六 [ごしろく, go-shi-roku] |
|
| Five Four Six Ribbons 短の五四六 [たんのごしろく, tan no go-shi-roku] |
|
| Seven Five Three 七五三 [しちごさん, shichi-go-san] |
 |
| Seven Five Three Ribbons 短の七五三 [たんのしちごさん, tan no shichi-go-san] |
 |
| Kumano Shrines 熊野サン [くまのさん, kumano-san] |
  |
| Kumano Shrines’ Ribbons 短の熊野サン [たんのくまのさん, tan no kumano-san] |
  |
| Eight Islands 八島 [やしま, yashima] |
 In Teikei Aru Hanzai No Chōsa, the Rain Man replaces the  Bush Warbler in this yaku, making it an imperfect pair with its Ribbon version. |
| Eight Islands’ Ribbons 短の八島 [たんのやしま, tan no yashima] |
 |
| Nakazō 仲蔵 [なかぞう, nakazō] |
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| Nakazō Ribbons 短の仲蔵 [たんのなかぞう, tan no nakazō] |
|
| Four Seven Eight [Ribbons] 四七八 [しんしちはち, shin-shichi-hachi] |
|
| Ten Seven Eight [Ribbons] 十七八 [じうしちはち, jūshichihachi] |
|
| Shellfish 海老 [えび, ebi] |
 |
| Shellfish Ribbons 短の海老 [たんのえび,tan no ebi] |
 |
| Low Three 下三 [しもざん, shimozan] |
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| Low Three Ribbons 短の下三 [たんのしもざん, tan no shimozan] |
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| Downpour 出雨 [でう, de-u] |
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| Downpour Ribbons 短の出雨 [たんのでう, tan no de-u] |
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¶ Bibliography
- Kusaba, Jun. “In Search of Old Hanafuda Games.” Jun Kusaba’s Game Research Site, Jan.-Feb. 1995, https://sites.google.com/a/banjoyugi.net/kusabazyun/Home/reproductioned/history/kohanafuda.
- Shiono, Suehiko. Teikei Aru Hanzai No Chōsa. Shihōshō Chōsaka, 1921, National Diet Library, dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1878761. pp. 75-80.