Japanese card games

Japan has a rich history of pastimes, board games and card games. There are competitive versions of many games and the game introduced by Yokozuka sensei below is one of these. The national competition for this game receives news coverage and there have been a number of comic books, movies and dramas featuring this game.

Read the Japanese without or with Kanji furigana help, and learn Japanese words from the English translation and word list. Perhaps you can add some Japanese culture to your new year celebrations and holidays by trying out this game.

かるた
Karuta

yokozuka

By YOKOZUKA Noriko

karuta

日本には「かるた」という遊びがあります。トランプのようなカードに文字や絵が書かれています。カードを「札(ふだ)」と言い、読み札絵札の2種類で構成されています。読み札にはことわざなどが書いてあり、絵札には読み札に対応した絵が描かれています。一人が読み札を読み、その他のみんなが絵札を取ります。いろはかるたや歌がるた、百人一首、それに地域特有のかるたなど、いろいろな種類があります。

最近では、ことわざや慣用句のかるただけではなく、漢字のかるた、アルファベットのかるた、歴史人物のかるた、生物の進化が分かるかるたまで、とてもたくさんの種類があるようです。かるたと言うとお正月のイメージがありますが、普段から、かるたは言葉やいろいろなことの勉強にも役立ちそうです。

聞くところによると、かるたを使って日本語を勉強している人もいるそうです。興味があれば、かるたに挑戦してみてはいかがでしょうか。

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かるた

日本(にほん)には「かるた」という遊(あそ)びがあります。トランプのようなカードに文字(もじ)や絵(え)が書(か)かれています。カードを「札(ふだ)」と言(い)い、読み札(よみふだ)絵札(えふだ)の2種類(しゅるい)で構成(こうせい)されています。読み札にはことわざなどが書いてあり、絵札には読み札に対応(たいおう)した絵が描(か)かれています。一人(ひとり)が読み札を読み、その他(ほか)のみんなが絵札を取(と)ります。いろはかるたや歌(うた)がるた、百人一首(ひゃくにんいっしゅ)、それに地域(ちいき)特有(とくゆう)のかるたなど、いろいろな種類があります。

最近(さいきん)では、ことわざや慣用句(かんようく)のかるただけではなく、漢字(かんじ)のかるた、アルファベットのかるた、歴史人物(れきしじんぶつ)のかるた、生物の進化(せいぶつのしんか)が分(わ)かるかるたまで、とてもたくさんの種類があるようです。かるたと言うとお正月(しょうがつ)のイメージがありますが、普段(ふだん)から、かるたは言葉(ことば)やいろいろなことの勉強(べんきょう)にも役立(やくだ)ちそうです。

聞(き)くところによると、かるたを使(つか)って日本語を勉強している人もいるそうです。興味(きょうみ)があれば、かるたに挑戦(ちょうせん)してみてはいかがでしょうか。

Karuta

There is a game in Japan called “Karuta”. It has cards rather like playing cards with pictures and words on them. The cards are called “Fuda”, and are composed of two types, those to be read and some face cards. The reading cards have a proverb written on them and the face cards have pictures that correspond to these words. One person reads the reading card and all the other players try to take the face cards. There are many varieties like “Iroha Karuta”, “Uta Garuta”, “Hyakunin Isshu” and some peculiar to local areas.

Recently, there are really many types of the game, not only Karuta with proverbs and idioms but also Kanji Karuta, alphabet Karuta, famous people from history Karuta and even Karuta to help you understand evolution. Ordinarily, when we talk about Karuta, we have an image of New Year's, but Karuta is also helpful when studying words and many other things.

I hear that there are some people who use Karuta to study Japanese too. If you are interested in this, why not have a go at playing Karuta ?

かるた [<((ポルトガル語))carta]karuta; Japanese card

札(ふだ) a card

読み札(よみふだ) cards to be read by the reader [reciter] in a game of karuta

絵札(えふだ) a face card

構成(こうせい) composition

対応(たいおう) correspondence

生物の進化(せいぶつのしんか) organic evolution

聞くところによると I hear

yokozuka

Konnichi-wa, everybody. I am originally from Ringo-no-ri in Aomori prefecture, but I am now living in Kakaa-tenka in Gunma prefecture. I've lived in several other of Japan's prefectures as well, including Niigata (which has gorgeous sunsets), Tochigi (where the Nikko Toshogu shrine is located), and Gifu (land of the famous Shirakawa-go area of historic rafter roofed houses).

I myself am studying Chinese, so I can really relate to the difficulty of learning a foreign language. But still, if we can get past that step and feel the excitement of having just a single word understood, the feeling of satisfaction that comes from communication is, no pun intended, beyond words. I'd like to invite everyone who visits our online Japanese school with the thought "I want to speak Japanese!" to join my classes. Until the day when you can say confidently, "I did it, I learned how to speak Japanese!", I promise to do my best to help you in your Japanese language studies.

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