Not to be confused by the Koi-Koi yaku of the same name
Ino-Shika-Chō - 猪鹿蝶 [いのしかちょう, lit. “boar-deer-butterfly”] is a Roppyakken variant for two to three players, played in the Hokkaido region of Japan.
The name comes from the Yaku of the same name being the highest scoring Yaku in the game.
Note that the name of this game may also refer to a simple gambling game with a completely different gameplay style; for this reason, the gambling game is sometimes refered to as “Old Ino-Shika-Chō”.
¶ Gameplay
Gameplay is identical to Roppyakken, except for some differences:
- There are 2 wild cards, and the rules of using them are different.
- Ribbon cards are worth 5 points instead of 10.
- There are two less Dekiyaku than in Roppyakken; Shiko and Nanatan are not counted in this game. (For this reason, “Boar, Deer, Butterflies” is the Dekiyaku with the highest value.)
- There are different rules for “Fuke”.
¶ Wild Cards
The 
Rain Man card and the 
Sake Cup card function as (limited) wild cards in this game.
This means that each one of them, when drawn from the draw pile, can be used to match any card other than 0-point cards. The exception is when there are Willow or Chrysanthemum cards on the field; then it must capture one of them. In addition, they cannot be used to capture sets of 3 of any other suit.
If the wild card is on a player’s hand, it cannot be used as a wild card except when held by the dealer.
If the wild card is on the field, then it no longer functions as a wild card, and must be captured by a card of the same month.
¶ Card Values
| Card Type | Value | Number in Deck |
|---|---|---|
| Brights | 50 | 5 |
 Bush Warbler |
50 | 1 |
| Other Animals | 10 | 8 |
| Ribbons | 5 | 10 |
 Yellow Paulownia |
5 | 1 |
| Other Chaff | 0 | 23 |
¶ Typical Dekiyaku
Note that as with most Hana Awase-style games, there is some variation in the repertoire of yaku and their scores, depending on who you ask. The following table therefore may include yaku not present in other sources, or may be missing yaku that are included in other sources.
The Viewing Yaku are mutually exclusive, but outside of that, all yaku stack: players score for all the yaku they possess at the end of the round.
| Value | Name of Yaku | Composition |
|---|---|---|
¶ Bright Yaku |
||
| 150 | Pine, Paulownia, Baldy 松桐坊主 [まつきりぼうず, matsu-kiri-bōzu] |
   |
| 150 | Big Three 大三 [おおざん, oozan] |
  |
¶ Ribbon Yaku |
||
| 100 | Little Three 小三 [こざん, kozan] |
The three Poetry Ribbons:   |
| 100 | Blue Ribbons 青短 [あおたん, aotan] |
The three Blue Ribbons:   |
| 100 | Grass Ribbons 草短 [くさたん, kusatan] |
Three specific Plain Ribbons:   |
¶ Animal Yaku |
||
| 300 | Boar, Deer, Butterflies 猪鹿蝶 [いのしかちょう, inoshikachō] |
   |
¶ Viewing Yaku |
||
| 300 | Gun 鉄砲 [てっぽう, teppō] |
Note that this yaku replaces the other two Viewing Yaku; you do not score for all three individually. |
| 100 | Flower Viewing 花見 [はなみ, hanami] |
|
| 100 | Moon Viewing 月見 [つきみ, tsukimi] |
|
¶ Four-of-a-Kind Yaku |
||
| 200 | Four Rains 雨島 [あめしま, ameshima] |
   |
| 50 | Four Pines 松島 [まつしま, matsushima] |
  |
| 50 | Four Plum Blossoms 梅島 [うめしま, umeshima] |
  |
| 50 | Four Cherry Blossoms 桜島 [さくらしま, sakurashima] |
  |
| 50 | Four Wisterias 藤島 [ふじしま, fujishima] |
   |
| 50 | Four Baldies 坊主島 [ぼうずしま, bōzushima] |
   |
| 50 | Four Maples 紅葉島 [もみじしま, momijishima] |
  |
| 50 | Four Paulownias 桐島 [きりしま, kirishima] |
   |
¶ Fuke
- If any player other than the dealer has only scored 60 points or fewer during a round, all players’ score calculations for the round, including card points, Teyaku points, and Dekiyaku points, are invalidated. This negation of scoring is called fuke [ふけ, a shortened form of fukikeshi - 吹き消し (lit. blow away)].
- If the dealer has only scored 60 points or fewer during a round, all players’ score calculations for the round are invalidated except for the other two players’ Dekiyaku points.
¶ Bibliography
- Takeshi Ichinose, “Atarashi Hanafuda Nyuumon”