Not to be confused with the game Tensho.
Tenshu (てんしゅ) is a unique type of Mekurifuda fishing game. It has been attested to be played in Uozu city, in the Toyama prefecture in Japan.
The origin of the name is unknown, although it is speculated to be a regional dialect variant of the word Tensho (天正 - てんしょ).
The game can be played by 4 to 7 people, but there are only 4 active players per round.
¶ Equipment
¶ The Cards
49 cards of a Fukutoku deck are used, including the Onifuda!
¶ Card Names in Tenshu
| NUMBER | Clubs | Swords | Coins | Cups |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Dragon) |
Deka chin (Big 1) |
Chin go (1, 5-pt.) |
Chin kasu (1 junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 2 | Ao ni / Mata no ni (Blue 2) |
Aka ni (Red 2) |
Taiko no ni (Drums 2) |
Kuchibiru no ni (Lips 2) |
| 3 | Ao san (Blue 3) |
Aka san (Red 3) |
Tama san (Ball 3) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 4 | Ao shi (Blue 4) |
Aka shi (Red 4) |
Kasu (Junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 5 | Ao go (Blue 5) |
Aka go (Red 5) |
Kasu (Junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 6 | Sen roku (10-pt. 6) |
Aka roku (Red 6) |
Kasu (Junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 7 | Ao nana (Blue 7) |
Aka nana (Red 7) |
Kasu (Junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 8 | Ao hachi (Blue 8) |
Aka hachi (Red 8) |
Kasu (Junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 9 | Ao kyu (Blue 9) |
Aka kyu (Red 9) |
Kasu (Junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 10 (Maid) |
Medama no jū (Eyeball 10) |
Sudare no jū (Blinds 10) |
Kasu (Junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 11 (Horse) |
Uma (Horse) |
Uma no kasu (Horse junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
| 12 (King) |
Kiri no jūni (King 12) |
Kiri no kasu / Buri no atama (King junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
Kasu (Junk) |
¶ Go Stones
Each white stone is worth 1 “kan” or “mon”, which is equal to 10 points.
Each black stone is worth 1 point.
Each player should have 200 points consisting of 19 white stones and 10 black stones at the beginning of the game.
There should also be extra stones in increments of 19 white stones and 10 black stones, so that players who run out of stones could borrow additional stones. (There are no tokens used to indicate borrowing of stones in this game.)
¶ Game Setup
¶ Choosing the Dealer
There is no attested method for choosing a dealer, so you may use whichever method suits you.
Once the dealer is chosen, other players sit around a circle wherever they prefer.
The order of seating is counterclockwise, starting with the dealer. The first 4 players are the active players, while the remaining players are called “Servants” (ばんちょう - banchou).
It is called “servant” because it evokes the meaning of a person serving tea and taking care of the active players.
The first servant, who is the servant to the 4th player’s right, has a chance to participate in the round in just one turn only, while the other servant(s) are completely inactive until the next round, and are called “Empty Servants” (からばん, karaban).
Servants are not obligated to pay points to any of the active players or other servants.
¶ Seating Order
- 4 players: Dealer > 2nd > 3rd > Last
- 5 players: Dealer > 2nd > 3rd > Last > Servant
- 6 players: Dealer > 2nd > 3rd > Last > Servant > Empty Servant
- 7 players: Dealer > 2nd > 3rd > Last > Servant > Empty Servant > Empty Servant
¶ Dealing the Initial Cards (4 players only)
The dealer shuffles the deck and the last player (i.e. 4th active player) cuts it.
The dealer then deals the cards using the following order:
- Place 3 cards face-up on the field.
- Place 8 piles of 3 cards each face-down; 6 piles in the first row, and 2 piles in the second row (near the dealer).
- Place 3 cards face-up again on the field.
- Add 2 cards face-down to each of the 8 piles.
- Place 3 cards face-up again on the field.
In total, there are 8 piles of 5 cards each, and 9 cards face up on the field.
What happens if 4 cards of the same number are dealt to the field has not been attested - usually a misdeal is declared (since these 4 cards are impossible to capture); In this case, the cards are thrown in, shuffled again, and re-dealt. Other rules should probably be agreed upon as a house rule.
¶ Dealing the Initial Cards (5 or more players)
The method is mostly the same as with 4 players, except:
- The final 3 cards that were supposed to be placed face-up on the field are instead placed in a stack face-down separate from the field.
The servant next to the last active player flips that stack face-up to expose the bottom card. The servant checks each card in the stack starting with the exposed bottom card.
- If the card is part of a dekiyaku, then place it on the field face-up.
These include the 2 of coins, the 7, 8, and 9 of swords, and all cards with the numbers 3, 4, and 5.
- If the card is not part of any dekiyaku, then it becomes the servant’s hand. Place the other cards on the field face-up.
- If all 3 cards are part of a dekiyaku, then the servant has no hand. The servant is called “Empty Servant” (からばん, karaban), and does not participate during the round.
All other servants except the first one are automatically considered “Empty Servants”.
¶ Special Situations after Dealing
¶ 1. Sanbon on the field
- If there are three ‘9’ cards on the field, it is considered a misdeal. The cards are reshuffled and redealt.
- If there are three cards of the same number on the field that isn’t 9, then the dealer takes two of the three cards of their choice into their capture pile.
¶ 2. Onifuda on the field
If the onifuda is on the field:
- The Onifuda is considered a 10 (maid) of clubs, while the 10 (maid) of clubs is considered the Onifuda.
- If the 10 (maid) of clubs is also on the field, the Onifuda is considered a 6 of clubs, while the 6 of clubs is considered the Onifuda.
- If the 10 (maid) of clubs and 6 of clubs are also on the field, the Onifuda is considered a 10 (maid) of swords, while the 10 (maid) of swords is considered the Onifuda.
- If the 10 (maid) of clubs, 6 of clubs, and 10 (maid) of swords are also on the field, the Onifuda is considered a 2 of clubs, while the 2 of clubs is considered the Onifuda. (There is no explanation what happens if the 2 of clubs also appears on the field.)
¶ Notta (Choose who swaps hands with dealer)
As soon as the last card is placed face-up on the field by the dealer during dealing, each of the other active players may declare “Notta!” to indicate that they want to swap hands with the dealer.
First shout, first served, and only one player may exchange per round.
The actual exchange of hands will happen after all players have cards in hand.
¶ Choosing the hand
After the deal is done, each active player takes two face-down piles from the table.
The choosing of the piles is not arbitrary; the two piles separate from the 1st row belong to the dealer, while the other active players, in counterclockwise order, take two piles from the 1st row, starting from the dealer’s right to the dealer’s left. (see diagram below)
Once all players have two face-down piles, each player must choose which one of the two piles will become their hand, which they can see during the round.
Once the hand is chosen, the other pile will become an optional pile for the player to draw and play a card from.
Once all players have a hand, then the dealer exchanges their hand with the person who first declared “Notta!”, if there are any.
Then the round begins.
¶ Gameplay
Turn goes counterclockwise starting with the dealer. If the servant has a card, then they also get a turn to play as well.
The core gameplay is similar to Mekuri games, except that instead of playing one card from the hand, and then one card drawn from the draw pile, the player either players one card from the hand, or draws a card from their own pile and plays it.
¶ Player’s Turn
On their turn, a player chooses a single card from their hand and plays it to the table.
- If it belongs to the same number 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 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.
Alternatively, instead of playing a card from their hand, the player may take the top card of their own face-down pile, turns it face-up, and immediately plays it to the table in the same fashion.
After one card has been played, either from the hand or the face-down pile, the turn ends, and the next player takes their turn.
In practice, each player’s captured cards are stacked in a face-up pile. Some players also prefer to stack them in two face-up piles (one for Scoring cards and one for Junks). However, it is better that each player’s capture pile are 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 (Scoring cards and Junks) or by number to make detecting yaku easier.
¶ Servant’s Turn
After the last active player’s turn ends, the servant with a card may choose to play their turn or pass, depending on the number on their card.
- If there is a matching card on the field, the servant may play their turn to capture the matching card with their card. After that, their turn ends and cannot play any more turns.
- If there are no matching cards on the field, or if the servant doesn’t feel like using up their turn yet, the servant may pass their turn. In that case, they get to choose to use their turn again the next time the last active player ends their turn.
¶ Onifuda
The onifuda can be used to capture any card on the field.
- If it is on your hand, you may play it during any of your turns.
- If it is drawn from your face-down pile, you must capture a card from the field.
- If you are a servant and it is the only card you have, you may play it to use up your turn.
Also because of the use of Onifuda, there will be one card on the field left uncaptureable when the round ends with all players running out of cards; this uncaptureable card goes to the capture pile of the player who used the Onifuda.
¶ End of Round
The round ends when all players run out of cards, or when a player forms a specific dekiyaku called Taikosan.
¶ Taikosan
Taikosan is a 5-card Dekiyaku consisting of the 2 of coins plus four cards of the number 3.
If a player forms Taikosan, then the player declares “Yoroshii!”. The round ends prematurely and all scoring calculations are forfeited.
The player is declared the winner of the round and is paid 100 points by each of the other 3 active players. The winner then gifts 10 points to each empty servant, and 20 points to the servant that has a card or participated in the round.
The winner becomes the dealer for the next round.
¶ Special Yaku: Fuke
If all players run out of cards, then players check the card points for Fuke.
Fuke is formed if a player has captured only 4 cards, and the total card points of those 4 cards are 5 points or less.
If a player forms Fuke, then all scoring calculations are forfeited.
The player is declared the winner of the round and is paid 20 points by each of the other 3 active players.
The winner becomes the dealer for the next round.
¶ Scoring
If neither Taikosan nor Fuke are formed, then proceed with the following.
¶ Dekiyaku Points
A player who forms a dekiyaku is paid its point value by each of the other 3 active players.
However, if three yaku are formed during a round, then the round is forfeited (all scoring/payments for that round are cancelled).
¶ Calculating the Card Points
Next, each player’s card points are then counted and subtracted by a par score of 43 to get the settlement score.
Card Point score = Total of captured card points - 43
Negative score means you lose those points; Positive score means you win those points.
The player who earned most card points in that round becomes the dealer for the next round.
¶ Card Points of the Servant
The captured card points of the servant who participated in the round becomes their card point score; it doesn’t need to be subtracted by the par score.
¶ Card Points Table
| NUMBER | Clubs | Swords | Coins | Cups |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Dragon) |
10 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 (Maid) |
10 | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 (Horse) |
11 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 (King) |
12 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Onifuda is worth 10 points.
¶ Dekiyaku
Note: All Dekiyaku stack, except when Taikosan is formed, then it cancels all other dekiyaku scores.
Note: If three Dekiyaku are formed in a single round, then the round is forfeited.
| NAME OF YAKU | The Cards | Value in Points |
|---|---|---|
| Taikosan | 2 of coins + Four '3’s | 100, stop the round |
| Aka | 7, 8, and 9 of swords | 50 |
| Go | Four '5’s | 30 |
| Shi/Yon | Four '4’s | 25 |
| San/Chokosan | Four '3’s | 20 |
¶ Number of Rounds
It is recommended that the game has as much rounds as there are participants.