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Kabufuda

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Kabufuda pattern deck

Kabufuda (株札（かぶふだ）) are Japanese playing cards used for gambling games such as Oicho-Kabu mainly used in the Kansai region.

Kabufuda cards, like the related hanafuda (lit. 'flower cards'), are smaller and stiffer than Western playing cards. The standard Kabufuda pattern deck contains 41 cards, which includes one blank card and designs representing the numbers 1 through 10 based on the Latin club suit. There are four cards for each number. One of the 1's has a red background and is decorated gold or silver, called the Aka-pin (赤ピン 'red pin') or Aza-pin (アザピン 'Ace-pin') from Portuguese 'às pintas' ('Ace spots'). The twos often have the manufacturer or distributor's trademark. One of the 4's is also decorated gold or silver, called the Tamashi (玉四 'round four') or Kinshi (金四 'gold four'), which allows it to have a role in certain games.

Like hanafuda, kabufuda is a descendant of mekuri karuta. Since suits are irrelevant in kabu games, all decks became single-suited during the 18th-century.[1] Like in baccarat, the object of most kabu games is to get a total closest to nine.[2] Early kabufuda decks had three ranks of face cards but since they have no value, only the jacks were kept. Kabu is believed to derive from the Portuguese slang cavo meaning a stake, bet, or wager.[3] Closely related are the gabo games played with Korean tujeon cards[4] and the Indian Ganjapa game of komi.[5]

Other small single-suited regional card patterns such as "Komaru" (小丸), "Mefuda" (目札), and "Daini" (大二) may also be classified as Kabufuda.[6] These patterns are based on the Latin coin suit, have one of their 3's specially decorated, and have an additional Onifuda that acts as a wild card.

Komaru pattern deck. The cards on the bottom are variations on the corresponding cards above.
  1. ^ Pollet, Andrea. Kabo patterns at Andy's Playing Cards. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  2. ^ Pakarnian, John, "Game Boy: Glossary of Japanese Gambling Games", Metropolis, January 22, 2010, p. 15.
  3. ^ Fairbairn, John (1986). "A Card Game Played with Kurofuda". The Playing-Card. 15 (1): 27.
  4. ^ Mann, Sylvia (1990). All Cards on the Table. Leinfelden: Deutsches Spielkarten-Museum. p. 335.
  5. ^ Hopewell, Jeff (2006). "Komi and Nakash". The Playing-Card. 34 (1): 67.
  6. ^ 『賭けずに楽しむ日本の賭博ゲーム』（立東舎、2015年）

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