Owned

Korean Hwatu

Korean Hwatu Hanafuda Deck Design by Traditional
Korean Hwatu — Traditional
Traditional

From this deck

Four faces

Bright
Animal
Ribbon
Chaff

In play

Korean Hwatu deck in a Koi-Koi game

About this pattern

The design of Korean hwatu was adapted from special "Hachi-hachi-bana" decks manufactured by Oishi Tengudo and Nihon Karuta Seizo, which include a circled "hikari" mark on each Bright card. Both the "akatan" and "aotan" Ribbon cards were marked with Korean writing: "hongdan" for the red ribbons and "cheongdan" for the blue ribbons.

Hidden Lore

Swapped months: In Korea, the Paulownia suit corresponds to November, while the Willow suit corresponds to December. Different interpretations of the suits: The April, May, and August cards were represented by the Wisteria, Kakitsubata, and Pampas Grass, respectively. However, in Korea, they were interpreted as Black Bush Clover, Orchid, and Desert Mountain, respectively. Logo on the Full Moon: The practice of putting a manufacturer's trademark on the Full Moon card evolved from Nihon Karuta Seizo's practice of putting an image of a rabbit pounding mochi on the Full Moon card.

Korean HwatuTraditional