Customer Reviews

Hanafuda the Flower Card Game

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most Westerners are unfamiliar with this Japanese card game. Hanafuda was developed in Japan after the introduction of Western playing cards over 350 years ago. Instead of the usual Jack, Queen, King configuration of cards, the Japanese developed a 48-card deck consisting of 12 suits, each of which has 4 cards. The twelve suits represent the 12 months, and each month features a flower or plant that is in season for that month. This reflects the Japanese sensitivity to the passing of the seasons. Another difference is that the cards are smaller than Western playing cards and are made of a heavy card stock.

This book shows how to play this game. It is basically a matching game in it's simplest form. You attempt to match cards in your hand with those of the same suit in the discard area. After you master the basic game, then you can try more complex forms in which you try to assemble special hands, similar to poker or mah jongg.

This is a really fun game, and it's cool factor is increased due to the fact that this game is traditionally associated with the Yakuza. Try it out and show off your tough side.

This book covers the basics of Hanafuda in easy to follow text with plenty of pictures.

You will learn how to identify the cards, build sets, score, and several variations. The most space is devoted to the standard 3-5 player game of Hanafuda (the Japanese version).

The only drawback that I could see was that there was not enough space given to more of the variations. Specifically, I was interested in the Godori (or Go-Stop) rules used in Korea. But the book title is Hanafuda, so I shouldn't have expected them there. I had also heard that there is even a way to use Hanafuda cards for a solitaire game--this wasn't covered in the text.

I bought this book a while back after getting a set of Nintendo Hanafuda cards online. I think it is indispensible. What I especially liked is the flap on the back cover of my edition with all of the cards listed with pictures, seasons, names, and point value. This is very handy to use during a game. I even photo-copy it and hand it out to players along with the page on bonus point combinations in Honeymoon Hanafuda. There are a few confusing errors in text/illustrations, which is the only reason this didn't get five stars. Since this is the 14th edition, I would have expected them to be ironed out by now. For example, on page 27,the board and hand cards are mislabeled. There are a few others, which can make it very confusing for a beginner like me! Eventually figured them all out and pencilled in the correct descriptions. I would recommend this book to anyone starting out.

The book is good and has several games that can be played BUT if you live in Australia, don't bother buying it unless you already have the actual cards. Amazon don't have a supplier that will post them to Australia.

this book offers not only basic understanding of this excellent oriental card game but also tips on playing.