hanafuda

Traditional Japanese playing cards. They are composed of 48 cards with flowers representing the months of the year.
The word "Hana fuda" literally means "flower cards." The pictures used for them represent the beauty of Japanese nature.

Items used in hanafuda pictures

• Janurary: pine tree and crane (animal)
• February: Japanese apricot (plum blossoms) and Japanese bush warbler / nightingale (bird)
• March: cherry blossoms and hanami curtain
• April: wisteria and little cuckoo
• May: iris (flower) and a temple in Yatsuhashi area
• June: peony (flower) and butterfly
• July: lespedeza / bush clover and boar
• August: susuki / silver grass, moon and goose
• September: chrysanthemum and sakazuki
• October: maple leaf / autumn leaves and deer
• November: willow, swallow (animal) and Ono no Michikaze (a prominent calligrapher who lived in the Heian period)
• December: paulownia and Chinese phoenix
• Others: colored tanzaku, saying 'Akayoroshi (lit. obviously good)' or 'Miyoshino'

See also

• Wikipedia: Hanafuda
• Nintendo (They originally were a hanafuda manufacturer)
• Summer Wars (Hanafuda acts as an important role)