On the 24th of January, 1928, Ototaro N. Yamamoto of San Gabriel CA, a flower raiser by profession, patented a new version of Hanafuda, the Japanese flower card game.
His patent specified a few innovations, most notable of which was that rather than the traditional Hanafuda flowers, he used flowers familiar to Californians:
Pansy
Sweet pea
Lily
Poppy
Iris
Rose
Daisy
Marigold
Chrysanthemum
Dahlia
Carnation
Poinsettia
Of his list, only 2 (Iris and Chrysanthemum) are to be found in the traditional Japanese version. He still keeps to the seasonal aspect of the game*. In the patent, he says "The iris is designated in the above table as the flower of May which is the fifth month in the year."
I imagine he chose the most popular flowers at the nursery where he worked. His patent describes the game in some detail, but the illustrations are indistinct line drawings.
In recreating the game, we drew on illustrations from the seed catalogues of the time, keeping the collotype stylings to make what might have been in Mr. Yamamoto's mind's eye at the time. We also added the suit names in raining type as index markers, and put the score in the top right hand and bottom left corners, to facilitate play.
His other innovation was to replace the Brights, Animals, Scrolls, and chaff of the traditional pack with some simple conventions. The chaff are the flowers shown as singles, the Scrolls are bouquets tied with red and blue ribbons, and the Brights and Animals are shown in basket vases.
Where there is no Scroll card, the Pawlonia suit in the traditional set, Mr. Yamamoto uses three singles and a vase:
The fifth suit, explicitly alluded to in the patent, has two ribbon cards. (Presumably to reflect the Willow suit in the traditional deck, which has an Animal, a Bright, and a Scroll):
This is the full set of 48:
In the patent he describes an adapted version of the traditional card game to be played with the cards, and the scoring rules**. You can examine the original patent at Espace.
You can buy a pack printed-on-demand here, at Make Playing Cards.
Otataro Yamamoto
Who was Otataro Yamamoto?
Otataro Nanshu Yamamoto was an Issei, a first generation Japanese American, who was born in Kure, Hiroshima in 1902. He sailed from Kobe to San Francisco with his parents Kikumatsu and Koto in July 1915, on the SS Manchuria.
He seems to have worked with a family flower-raising business on leaving school, and he was working there aged 22 when he filed his patent. As is so often the case, there is no record of a manufactured game eventuating.
In 1935, he married Matsuye Sugita, and with her, started the Bluebird Nursery in San Gabriel. They ran it until they were confined as aliens during World War II. He was prominent as a community organiser in the camps during the internment. Most of their internment was at Crystal City in Texas, and they wrote a vivid account of it in the 1991 Crystal City Reunion anthology.
On their release, they moved to Carson CA in the South Bay area. They continued farming (strawberries and vegetables), with Mr. Yamamoto being active in farming education. In 1954 he was mentioned in the LA Times as helping educate young Japanese men who wanted to learn Western agricultural methods.
In 1964, he paid for an educational film on horticulture ("Horizon") to be sent to his home town and screened there. It may be for this reason that he was awarded the 6th Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government in 1981. In 1987 he raised 1,000 black pines from seeds, sent by Carson's sister city in Japan, Soka City.
In 1997, he died after a brief illness.
Seasonality
Yamamoto's version of the game still has reference to seasons of the year. The flowers all have a seasonal aspect:
Pansy (winter)
Sweet pea (spring)
Lily (summer)
Poppy (summer)
Iris (summer)
Rose (summer)
Daisy (summer)
Marigold (autumn)
Chrysanthemum (autumn)
Dahlia (autumn)
Carnation (winter)
Poinsettia (winter)
and in the patent, he remarks we may select the lily for Easter, the rose for June, the chrysanthemum for September and the Poinsettia for December.
The Rules for Yamamoto's Hanafuda
Here are the rules from the patent application:
Assuming, for example, that there are six players, one of the players will be the dealer and will shuffle and deal the cards around the table seven cards to each player and he will place the remainder (six cards) in the centre of the table, face up. Then each player will look at the hand dealt to him.
If the dealer desires to play, he will say "Yes" and if not, he will say "No". The next player on the right then indicates by saying "'Yes" or "No" whether he desires to play, and so on around the table until three have signified their desire to play.
Assuming, for example, that three players have said "Yes" before the turn of the sixth person comes and assuming that the sixth person has a good hand and desires to play, hie may signify this by saying "Yes". There is one too many to play and, accordingly, it is necessary that one be caused to drop out until only three are left. Accordingly, the dealer then signifies whether he desires to play or not and the opportunity to express whether or not the player desires to play will pass around the table, each signifying by "Yes" or "No". The fourth player to say "Yes" if he finally plays the game, is entitled to double the number of points that he makes and the fifth player to say "Yes" is entitled to multiply the number of points that he makes by three, the sixth player by four, and so on, around the table. As the bid proceeds some who originally desired to play may change their bid and say "No" and as soon as only three remain who have bid "Yes", the play will begin.
The three who refuse to play will throw their cards into the centre of the table face down, making a total of twenty-one cards faced down. Then the dealer if he plays or, if not, the first player to his left who has indicated his desire to play looks at the cards in his hand and the cards face up on the table and if he holds a card of the same suit as one or more of the exposed table cards, he will remove the exposed card or cards off the table and place them with the same suit card in his hand and the book thus made will be placed to one side. If he finds no corresponding suit card on the table, he draws a card from those faced down and if there is no corresponding suit card on the table he places the drawn card face up on the table.
If, however, there is a corresponding exposed suit card, he takes both cards up and places them to one side. The next player proceeds in the same manner and so on, around the table until the entire hand has been played.
Each player if he does not find a match on the table, discards one to the table face up and draws one from those placed face down on the table. If he finds a match face up on the table, he takes it up and discards one to the table face up and then draws one from those face down. If the drawn card matches one of the table cards he takes the table card up, but if the drawn card does not match, he discards it to the table face up.
Each player's cards are then evaluated by using the values predetermined for them, the player having the greater number of points may be considered to have won that hand. A number of hands may be played to constitute a game.
If desired, the count of points may be considerably modified as follows: Twelve hands may constitute a game, one hand for each month. Let it be assumed, for example, that one of the players has taken up cards of a suit of a particular month and that the consecutive number of said month corresponds to the number of hands played when said cards are taken up. Under such circumstances the player is entitled to add a certain number of points, for example 200, to his score for that particular hand.
For example, assuming that one of the players in the fifth game took up cards belonging to the Iris suit. The Iris is designated in the above table as the flower of May which is the fifth month in the year.
Thus the number of the month corresponds to the number of the game and the player is entitled to add 200, or any other predetermined number of points to his score for the hand.
If desired, certain of the cards may be designated as holiday flowers. For example, certain flowers that are associated with baskets and ribbons. As an example of holiday flowers, we may select the Lily for Easter, the Rose for June, the Chrysanthemum for September and the Poinsettia for December. The player gaining cards from any of these four holiday flower suits is entitled to add, for example, 500 points to his score for the hand.
If all of the cards won by any player are single flowers that player may add 400 points to his score for that hand. If any player gains all of the cards having flowers in the baskets, he also is entitled to add 400 points to his score. If any player has under sixteen points he may add 350 points to his score. If any player has gained less than six cards he may add 350 points.
Some of the ribbons shown in the cards may be of one colour and some of another colour.
For example, some may be blue and others red. If any player gains all of the cards containing blue ribbons he is entitled to add 300 points. The same applies if he gains all the cards containing the red ribbons.
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