Hanafuda 花札 (Flower Cards)

This publication contains a full colour set of 48 hand-illustrated Hanafuda Karuta (Japanese playing cards) with game-playing instructions. The accompanying essay outlines the history of Hanafuda card games and the importance of game playing as a vital practice linking diasporic families with their cultural identities, and with community. From Tanaka’s essay,

What I find most interesting with card games is how the intimacy that new migrants seek can be found in the closeness of sitting around the table communally, and in the physicality of the way hands are dealt. The next part of the game involves strategy, but many times the goal of winning is an afterthought. It’s more about sitting in the company of friends, family, or strangers where there is sometimes silence, sometimes discussion, but what seems to be of the utmost importance is to know that you are not alone…”