A list of popular media that contains Hanafuda. Intentionally excluded from this list are video games where playing a Hanafuda game is the primary purpose (e.g. Koi-Koi Japan) and video games that are presented as a collection of games where one of the games is a Hanafuda game (e.g. 51 Worldwide Games). For more information on such video games, please view the Hanafuda Video Game list.
Media in which Hanafuda plays a significant role.
Video games (that are not collections of games) where hanafuda or a hanafuda-derived game is used as a minigame, often by playing it against other characters in the video game.
Multiple games in the Sakura Wars franchise have a Koi-Koi minigame.
Neopets Godori
A simplified version of the Korean game Go-Stop is available to play. The deck has the same structure as standard hanafuda but features completely redone Neopets-themed artwork.
Tales of Berseria “Character Cards” minigame
This installment in Namco’s “Tales” series features a minigame that is a modified interpretation of Koi-Koi. It uses a modified deck structure of 8 suits of 6 cards each, with 7 different categories of cards. Each suit features character portraits from one installment in the video game series.
Media in which Hanafuda is made reference to
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (鬼滅の刃, Kimetsu no Yaiba)
(A 2016-2020 Manga, 2019 animated television series, and 2020 animated film.)
The protagonist’s earrings are elongated hanafuda cards that resemble the Full Moon card.
Dragon Ball (1986 animated series)
The animated series has a filler episode called The Rampage of InoShikaCho, featuring a monster called InoShikaCho that looks like a purple boar with deer antlers and butterfly wings.
James Bond - Trigger Mortis (2015 novel)
The main antagonist is from South Korea, and uses hanafuda cards to decide how to execute his victims. See here on the James Bond wiki for more info.
Naruto and Boruto
(manga and anime series)
The original series introduces a trio of secondary characters named Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji, whose families are later revealed to have a long history of working in tandem. The given names within each of their families tend to start with “Ino,” “Shika,” and “Chō,” a reference to the hanafuda yaku consisting of the Boar, Deer, and Butterflies. Their families’ special combo moves are called Formation Ino-Shika-Chō.
Their fathers - Shikaku, Inoichi and Chōza - were the previous generation’s Ino-Shika-Chō team. In the Boruto series, their children Inojin, Shikadai and Chōchō are the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho.
Nisemonogatari (偽物語)
(novel and anime in the Monogatari series)
The game Koi-Koi is played between Araragi Koyomi and Suruga Kanbaru. Araragi, or perhaps the author, laments that hanafuda is not more popular.
Princess Jellyfish (海月姫, Kuragehime)
In chapter 61 (volume 6) of the manga, some of the main characters play a 3-player game of Koi-Koi to pass the time.
Shadow and Bone
Hanafuda appear shortly in season 2 episode 2 of the Netflix series. There is a scene where the main character Alina Starkov is invited to play cards with sailors from the Asian-coded nation of Shu Han, who use colorful redesigned hanafuda cards.
The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya (Final Part) (涼宮ハルヒの驚愕(後), Suzumiya Haruhi no Kyōgaku (Go))
(Volume 11 of the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series)
The protagonist Kyon is invited to a game of xiàngqí (Chinese chess) by his friend Koizumi, and asks if they can’t play with hanafuda instead. He notes to the reader that he has experience playing Oicho-Kabu and Koi-Koi with family members in the countryside.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun (地縛少年花子くん, Jibaku Shōnen Hanako-kun)
In chapter 4 of the manga and episode 3 of the anime, Hanako is briefly seen playing a hanafuda game with Mokke spirits.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (2022 novel by Gabrielle Zevin)
One of the characters’ Japanese father, Ryu Watanabe, laments having passed on an early opportunity to invest in Nintendo in the 70s, back when it was “just a playing card company” making hanafuda cards “for aunties and little children.” Then Japanese hanafuda and Korean hwatu are shortly discussed (the former being incorrectly described as “plastic cards” instead of the latter).
Yu-Gi-Oh!
The Flower Cardian monsters (from the animated television series Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V and the trading card game) are parodies of hanafuda cards.