Karuta
Our mission is to spread poetry and karuta all over the world
山神カルタ やまがみかるた/Karuta Yamagami 見習いの烏天狗。立派な天狗となるべく、日々山で修行に勤しむ。休みの日は、内緒で人里まで降りたりしているとか、いないとか。翼は自由に出し入れできる。 Twitter Youtube ©2017 Ichikara Inc. Karuta Sportwear supplies quality playing and training kit, along with a great selection of off field stash. Click here to find your club.
Click Here to See the game in action! (Instagram)
Purchase directly from our online shop or Amazon or through our selected retailers.
We specialize in making karutas in different languages since 2009.
You can play karuta like Chihayafuru with our Ogoola English Karuta or the Hyakuninisshu English Karuta.
Ogoola Karuta is an English version of the game karuta. The rules are based on the ancient Japanese poetry card game called karuta. This karuta uses famous quotations of classical and modern poems written in English. For the first time in history, you can play karuta with English, American, Irish and Scottish poems.
Karuta is over 400 years old in Japan. Today, there are over one million karuta players competing in clubs and the National championship is held every year in January. Due to the manga and anime Chihayafuru, karuta has become known worldwide.
Karuta is about listening and being FAST. You need one person to be the reader and a tleast two players to compete. A reader reads a poem or a poetry quote aloud. The players search and grab the matching playing card being read. Grab the right card first to win!
A free reader app is available in both Android and iOS devices. A reader app can act as the reader if everyone wants to play or you are only two persons. The poetry readings are also on Spotify so you can find the readings in the albums Ogoola Karuta English Classics and Modern on Spotify.
In addition to the Ogoola Karuta we offer the Hyakuninisshu English translated Karuta. This karuta is an English translated karuta of the original OguraHyakunin-isshu. Ogura Hyakunin-isshu is the anthology of the one hundred classical Japanese poems (waka) written by one hundred poets which is used in this game.
This is the karuta that Chihayafuru plays with. This karuta features the original Japanese karuta from Shogundo on one side, and the English translations on the other side. The English translation is translated by Clay MacCauley. He follows the the original 575-77 syllables of the Waka form. Therefore you can sing the poems in the original melody and rhythm as sung in the karuta tournaments in Japan.
Experience Japanese culture and the world of poetry through karuta! Fun and laughter is guaranteed!
Click below and listen to the Hyakuninisshu English Translated Karuta, using the original Makurakotoba, Chihayaburu.
http://media2.ogoola.se/2020/06/117.-Ariwara-no-Narihira-Ason-makura-kotoba-song.wavKaruta Bot
Tanka Poems Made into a Card Game
During the New Year's holiday in Japan, a traditional activity for the family is to play a card game known as 'karuta.' In this game, one person reads out a poem or well-known proverb, and the player who most quickly identifies the card with the corresponding picture or character wins the card. One of the oldest and best-known versions of this game in Japan is 'Hyakunin Isshu karuta.'
Hyakunin Isshu karuta: a set of 100 yomi-fuda (reading cards), featuring an image of the poet as well as the poem, and 100 tori-fuda (playing cards), with only the second part of the poem. ©AFLO
Hyakunin Isshu [One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each] is a collection of 100 short poems, known as tanka. Tanka is a form of Japanese traditional poetry comprised of just five lines with a total of 31 syllables grouped in lines of 5, 7, 5, 7 and 7 syllables. The first three lines, composed of 17 syllables, are called 'kaminoku,' and the final two lines composed of 14 syllables are called 'shimonoku.' These groups of lines create a beautiful rhythm.
The player listens to the reader (left) and slaps the correct card as fast as possible (right). ©AFLO
Karuta Bot Discord Commands
During the latter half of the Heian period (late 8th to late 12th century), poetry writing to express the beauty of nature or feelings of love became extremely popular among the aristocracy. It was against this backdrop that the Hyakunin Isshu anthology was compiled around 1235 as a collection of 100 poems from 100 poets dating from the mid-seventh century onwards.
In later ages, this poetry collection was adapted into the easy-to-play karuta card game, which remains popular to this day. Hyakunin Isshu karuta is a fun way of becoming familiar with classical poetry, so it is often included in classes at elementary and junior high schools. But recently, it has seen a fresh boom in interest among young people in Japan.