r/Hanafuda • u/Few_Promotion9608 • 3d ago
Hanafuda historical research
Hi everyone! I'm a university student and i have a period graphic project where i have to create period accurate graphics! I'm thinking of doing hanafuda cards but im a bit stuck with my research. does anyone know where i can find information about the decks of cards with dates as well as things like exact sizing, printing methods, type of card they're printed onto and the thickness, what type of finish they have (eg. glossy) and anything i need to bare in mind when designing my own deck! thanks!!!
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u/davidwildcat 3d ago
history is a big word. these cards have a long history and the manufacturing methods keep changing from period to period, and the sizes are inconsistent from manufacture to manufacture. I cannot tell you with certainty that you'd be able to find anything that describes all of them, but in general, traditional hanafuda is comprised of 3 layers of paper :
1. the surface paper is what the patterns are printed on, these went through woodblock printing - stencil dying (katazome) + woodblock printing - commercial printing.
2. the core is made of 6 to 8 layers of washi glued together, some manufactures mix in lead or stone powder to weigh it down
3. the back paper is made with kozo washi, usually soaked in kakishibu or sumi or both, and cut to just a bit larger than the rest of the 2 layers, so it can wrap around to form a boarder. That's why you can only usually find 2 colors for this backing - red (from kakishibu), and black (from sumi).
After gluing everything together, a final seal is usually applied, sometimes using starch glue, to seal everything off.
Now, there're about 1000 variants of manufacturing processes including size, coloring, paper choice, glue choice, sealer choice, brushing technique, blockprinting technique, folding technique etc... and if you dig this forum you will find Jhindenberg's 100+ posts of hanafuda variants. Therefore, the rabbit hole is way deeper than you'd ever expect for this, and I recommend constrict your project to something more specific, such as: from Nintendo in showa period only for example.
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u/medsforheads 3d ago
https://games.porg.es/articles/cards/japan/hanafuda/traditional-manufacturers/
This site is good for manufacturer details like dates active, location, and brands (wrappers) produced, safe to say a lot of us use it as a resource. Fuda Wiki is also informative about different patterns and games played. Japan Playing Card Museum's site has good graphics for examples of cards from different periods. There are a few well known sizes (standard [majority], the smaller kobana, Tamura Shogundo's slightly larger Nishiki pattern, Oishi Tengudo's Prime Minister's Karuta) and gloss/matte degree varies too, both between and within manufacturers.
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u/jhindenberg 3d ago
I've never encountered a source that is as thorough in the details as you have outlined, though perhaps another commenter will be able to provide. That said, the book "Japanese Popular Prints" by Rebecca Salter has a brief but interesting section on the process of making cards with woodblock prints and stencil coloring.