"At Naniwa Bay,
Blossoms, bloom!
Blossoms, you have slept
all through the winter —
Now bloom in spring."
I immediately fell in love with Karuta the first time I first saw it on the anime Chihayafuru a few years ago. It looks like a simple game, but I see it as a cross between meditation, sports, and art.
I've been meaning to get my own set ever since but I was a broke NEET back then. While I managed to find a PDF with the 百人一首 (Hyakunin Isshu), I never really got to memorise all the poems required to play the game. And then life and filmmaking took over...
My interest in the game was rekindled after watching Queen and Meijin matches uploaded on youtube.
Last month, I tried my luck and searched for "Karuta" on carousell and chanced upon this set selling for cheap. It was an N.O.S (new old stock) from a Japanese Surplus Store somewhere in Manila. This was such a rare find especially here in the Philippines.
Even though it was considerably cheap, I was still quite hesitant to get it due to the limited funds that I had and the temporary unemployment brought about by the pandemic. I decided to go for it in the end. And as luck would have it, I was was officially offered a gig the same day these cards arrived (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ
※ Translation of the Opening Poem taken from the World Karuta Association.