Hanafuda Basics
Learn about card types, month-flower associations, and basic terminology.
What is Hanafuda?
Hanafuda is a traditional Japanese card game. It uses 48 cards featuring flowers from each of the 12 months. Each month has 4 cards, totaling 48 cards.
Card Types
Hanafuda cards are divided into 4 categories, from highest to lowest value.
Bright (Hikari)
The 5 most valuable cards. Pine Crane, Cherry Curtain, Pampas Moon, Willow Ono no Michikaze, and Paulownia Phoenix.
Animal / Seed (Tane)
9 cards featuring animals or objects. Plum Warbler, Wisteria Cuckoo, Iris Water Bridge, Peony Butterfly, Bush Clover Boar, Pampas Geese, Chrysanthemum Sake Cup, Maple Deer, and Willow Swallow.
Ribbon (Tanzaku)
10 cards featuring decorative ribbons. Three types: Poetry Ribbons (Pine, Plum, Cherry — inscribed with "akayoroshi"), Blue Ribbons (Peony, Chrysanthemum, Maple), and Plain Ribbons (Wisteria, Iris, Bush Clover, Willow).
Plain (Kasu)
The most common 24 basic cards. Generally 2 per month, except Willow has 1 (Lightning) and Paulownia has 3.
Month-Flower Associations
Card Point Values
In games like Hanawase and Hachihachi, each card type has the following point values. Some games use different point values, and others (like Koi-Koi) do not use point values at all.
Determining Seating Order
Each player draws one card from the pile. The player who draws the earliest month sits in the top seat. If two players draw the same month, the one with the higher-value card takes precedence.
Starting from the top seat, players sit counterclockwise. The top-seat player becomes the first dealer (oya). The player to the dealer's left is dōni (second player), and the next is biki (third player).
Pine Crane Method
An alternative method: shuffle the deck face-down and have players take turns flipping one card each. The player who draws the Pine Crane (January Bright card) becomes the dealer.
Dealing Procedure
Preparing the Deck
- The previous round's winner (or the dealer for the first round) shuffles the cards
- Dōni (second player) splits the deck in two (cutting)
- Biki (third player) swaps the top and bottom halves (nozomu)
Dealing
The dealer deals starting from the player to their left (dōni). The standard dealing pattern is:
- Deal 4 cards face-down to each player
- Place 3 cards face-up on the field
- Deal 3 cards face-down to each player
- Place 3 cards face-up on the field
This results in 7 cards per player and 6 field cards (te-nana ba-roku). The remaining cards form the face-down draw pile.
With Enter/Retire System
When using the "enter/retire" system, the roles of cutting (dōni) and swapping (biki) are not fixed — they are assigned starting from the player to the dealer's right.
Oyate wo Morau (Taking the Dealer's Hand)
After dealing, before anyone has looked at their hand, a non-dealer player may request to swap hands with the dealer. This is called "oyate wo morau."
- The dealer must comply with the request
- However, if the requesting player has already looked at their own hand, the request is invalid
- The dealer must not pick up their hand until all non-dealer players have checked theirs
How Enter/Retire Works
When 4 or more players participate, only 3 players actually play each round. After seeing their hand, each player declares whether they "enter" (play) or "retire" (sit out).
- Players who retire return their hand to the draw pile and sit out that round
- Once 3 players have entered, all remaining players automatically retire
- If not enough players enter, the last remaining player is forced to enter (shibari)
- If the dealer retires, the dealer role passes to the player on their right
Whether retire fees (orichin) or chase-out fees (oikomichin) apply, and their amounts, vary by game.
This app supports 4 game modes: Koi-Koi, Hanawase, Shishibo, and Hachihachi. Each game's rules are explained on its own dedicated page.