The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1891-08-14
JAPANESE PLAYING CARDS.
Forty-SNine Make ~ Deck" and They Are
Queerly Marked.

by the ysypsies or by the home-return-
ing crusaders, the change and develop
menT they underwent while being
adapted from the cards of the orient
and altered into those that are familiar
TO our eyes. have been dwelt upon by
Plumbers of writer's says Science. but
the cards used in Japan have not been
mentioned in any of the best-known
histories, although they are more dis
tinctly original than any others, and
they show no marks of the common
origin which the Italian. Spanish. Ger
man. French. Hindoo, and Chinese
cards display.
The japanese cards. we learn from
paper by Mrs. j. King van Rensse-
laer, in the Proceeding of the Ma
tional Museum" (vol. -. No. 1867. are
oblong and are made of pasteboard.
The backs are painted black, with
none of the checkered. dotted marks
which usually decorate European cards
The designs seem to be stenciled, and
are brightly and appropriately colored,
and then covered with an enamel or
varnish which makes them quite as
slippery as our own. They are very
much smaller than our cards, being
little more than two inches long by
one broad.
Forty-nine in number, they are d.
vided into twelve suits of four cards in
each suit. One card is a trifle smaller
than the rest of the pack. and has n
plain white face not embellished with
any distinctive emblem, and this one is
used as Joker" The other cards
are covered with designs that repre-
sent twelve flowers or other things APP
propriate to the week of the year
Each card is distinct and different
from its fellows. even if bearing the
same mblem, and they can be easily
distinguished and classified. not only
by the symbolic flowers they bear, but
also by a character or letter that
marks nearly every card, and which
seems to denote the vegetable that
represents the month. The only month
that has has no floral emblem is Au-
gust. and that suit is marked by noun
tains and warm-looking skies.
January is represented by pine trees
which, on two of the cards. are shown
against lurid sky; the third one has
a grayish background that throws the
trees into strong relief and the fourth
has n setting sun flecked with light
clouds, the pines barely indicated in
front of il. and the greater part of the
card covered with the figure of huge
white-bodied. red-eyed stork.
, February displays rs its emblem
plumb blossom, the four cards devoted
to this month bearing its flower in
various positions.
March has a red-cherry blossom, and
April the hanging tendrils of the
,cta ,.,a wilma In Of tho oy-Io &
this suit is a wee yellow bird. which is
flying across its surface under GRIM
son cloud.
For May there are beautiful blue
birds springing from long spiky leaves.
part of dock or pier. and also the
water out of which the flower is lifting
its lovely head.
June is represented by blood-red
peonies, over one of which two yellow
butterflies are lowering.
On July's cards star-shaped leaves,
some yellow, some red, and some
black, are scattered over their sur
faces. These leaves resemble those of
our gum or liquid amber trees. but
they bear the japanese name of hagi.
On one of the cards belonging to this
suit deer is represented standing un-
der the branches of this strangely hued
tree. This is the only figure which re-
calls in any way the emblems used on
cards belonging to other nations, as
on one of the Chinese cards is found |
either deer or else Chinese characters
which have been translated to mean:
This is deer"
August is represented by four pict-
ures of grass-covered mountains, in
three of which they are sharply de-
fined against clouded blue sky, and
in the fourth the sun, looking hot and |
sultry, beams down on a treeless hill. !
Three birds fly across the sky on one
Of these cards.
September bears the Mikado's flow
er, "A yellow and red chrysanthemum;
October q maple tree with red or yell
low leaves, and on one card is yell
low boar trotting off toward the
symbolic tree.
November shows on one of its cards
a willow sharply outlined against a
leaden sky. The willows on a fellow
card look wind-tossed, and a long
tailed bird skins across the sky. A
third card is covered with inky Clouds
torrents of rain, and strange zigzags
resembling forked lightning. The
/. fourth card of this suit bears quaint
figure of man running through the
storm under the willow trees and drop
ping his sandals in his haste. his head
covered with a huge yellow umbrella.
Streaks of lightning surround the lit
tie figure, and the storm of rain is we'll
depicted in the picture.
December bears the imperial Japan
csc plant kiri, and over one of these
flowers hovers beautiful red-crested |
silver-winged pheasant
An infinite variety of games are
played with these cards, as there is q
shade of difference in each one of each |
set, and in some games each has
separate value. The favorite game in
Japan at present is very like casino,
in which any card of a set may take
any other, but all have their own
values in the final count.