Gintengu (金天狗, Silver Tengu) was one of Nintendo’s middle-class brands of hanafuda decks. As the name suggests, it ranks lower than Kintengu (金天狗, Golden Tengu).
It usually features a silver background, and a portrait of a red-skinned Tengu with a large, pointed nose and a long, white beard. It is depicted holding a magical feather fan called hauchiwa (羽団扇).
It was the 10th highest-ranking brand in Nintendo’s hanafuda lineup, alongside Yaezakura and Kikusui, behind Marufuku jirushi and followed by Konishiki jirushi.
It is one of 6 Nintendo brands to feature a Tengu in the label, the others being Tengu, Kintengu, Ohtengu, Azuma Tengu, and Daitengu.
Brand names aside, this brand shares similar traits with Azuma Tengu and Daitengu, as all 3 brands feature a silver background and feature similar Tengu illustrations.
The brand was known to exist during the 1920’s and 1930’s, but was discontinued very early, possibly due to trademark conflicts with Oishi Tengudo. This made the brand extremely rare. Only one deck in a wooden box has appeared on the internet, and a photo of an unused box label also appeared, which is what is shown in this page.