Hyakunin Isshu Karuta

Rules and how to play

A Hyakunin Isshu set has 100 reading cards (yomifuda), each showing a whole poem and a picture of its poet, and 100 grabbing cards (torifuda), each with only the second half of the poem (shimo no ku) written in kana. A reader reads a reading card aloud, and the players look for the grabbing card of that poem and take it. This page has 2 ways to play: scattered play (chirashi-dori) and one-on-one play.^[1][5]

Instead of a reader’s voice, the reading kana (kana that spell the poem as it sounds when read aloud) appear below the board 1 at a time. After the first half of the poem (kami no ku) appears, there is a short pause, and then the second half appears. In the menu, you can choose the speed: “Slow” (0.4 seconds per kana), “Normal” (0.25 seconds), or “Fast” (0.17 seconds).

In both ways of playing, you can press a card only once per poem. If you press the wrong card, you can no longer take the card of that poem. The time to take a card is measured from when the first kana appears until you press the card.

Scattered play

The grabbing cards are laid out on the table, and the first player to press the card of the poem being read takes it. The game ends when no cards are left on the table, and the player who took the most cards wins.^[5]

Pressing a card other than the one for the poem being read is a fault (otetsuki), and you cannot press a card for the next poem. If no one takes the card and 3 seconds pass after the reading ends, the card is removed from the table (it belongs to no one).

In the menu, you can choose the number of computer opponents (1–3) and the number of cards on the table (10, 20, or 50). Only the poems whose cards are on the table are read.

One-on-one

Each of the 2 players lays out the same number of cards in their own territory (jin). You can take cards from both your opponent’s territory and your own. The first player to have no cards left in their own territory wins.^[4]

When you take a card from your opponent’s territory, you choose 1 card from your own territory and send it to your opponent’s territory (okurifuda). Pressing a card in the territory that does not have the card of the poem being read (defuda), or pressing a card when the poem has no card on the table (a dead card, karafuda), is a fault, and your opponent sends you 1 card. Pressing a different card in the territory that has the defuda is not a fault.^[4]

In the menu, you can choose the number of cards in each player’s territory (6, 10, or 25) and whether dead cards are read. By default, dead cards are read too, so poems whose cards are not on the table also appear.^[4]

This way of playing is based on the rules of competitive karuta (kyogi karuta), but cards are judged by the order in which they are pressed on the screen, so there are no rules for sweeping cards away (haraite) or for when 2 players touch a card at the same time. There is also no memorization time.

Kimariji (deciding syllables)

The kimariji of a poem tell you how many syllables (kana) from the start of its first half you need to hear before you know which poem it is. Among the 100 poems of the Hyakunin Isshu, 7 poems are decided by 1 syllable, 42 by 2, 37 by 3, 6 by 4, 2 by 5, and 6 by 6.^[2]

The 7 poems decided by 1 syllable (ichiji-kimari, one-syllable cards) are the poems that begin with mu, su, me, fu, sa, ho, and se. The 3 pairs of poems that are not decided until the 6th syllable are called oyamafuda (big mountain cards): poems 11 and 76 (wata no hara), 15 and 50 (kimi ga tame), and 31 and 64 (asaborake).^[2]

Kimariji get shorter as more cards are read. For example, poem 63, “imawa tada”, is decided by the 3 syllables “i-ma-wa” among all 100 poems. After poem 21, “ima konto”, has been read, it is decided by the 2 syllables “i-ma”, and after poem 61, “inishie no”, has also been read, it is decided by the 1 syllable “i”. On this page, the computer on Hard presses cards using the kimariji among the remaining cards. The result for each poem also shows its kimariji at that point.^[2]

Writing on the grabbing cards

A grabbing card has only the second half of the poem, written in kana in 3 lines. Traditional grabbing cards are written without dakuten (the marks that change a kana to a voiced sound, such as ka to ga), so the second half of poem 1, “waga koromode wa”, is written “waka koromote wa”. This page also uses no dakuten by default. To add them, turn on “Add dakuten to grabbing cards” in the menu.^[1]

The reading kana on the screen spell the sounds of the reading, while grabbing cards are written in the old kana spelling (historical kana orthography, rekishiteki kanazukai), so the same poem can be spelled differently. For example, “kariho no iho no” in the first half of poem 1 appears as “kario no io no” in the reading kana.

Controls on this page

In the menu, choose the format (“Scattered play” or “One-on-one”), the number of cards, the card range, and the reading speed, then press “Easy”, “Medium”, or “Hard” under “Play vs computer”. The computer’s level changes the share of poems it has memorized and how quickly it presses a card after the poem is decided. If you press “Practice solo”, you play scattered play without the computer, and your time for each card is recorded.

For the card range, you can choose all 100 poems, a block of 20 poems by poem number (for example, poems 1–20), or the 49 poems with one-syllable and two-syllable kimariji.

When the reading kana start to appear below the board, press the grabbing card of the poem being read. On phones and tablets, tap the card. If the computer takes it first, the card moves to the computer’s pile. After each poem, the whole poem, the poet, the kimariji, and who took the card are shown.

In the “Button controls” panel to the right of the 3D view (below it on narrow screens), the cards on the table are listed as buttons showing the writing on each grabbing card, and you can take a card by pressing its button. When it is your turn to send a card in one-on-one play, choose the card to send with the buttons for your territory, or press “Send a card with long kimariji”. With this panel, you can play on devices where the 3D view is not available, or with the keyboard alone.

The board starts in the top-down view. You can switch views with “Angled” and “Top-down” at the top right of the 3D view. Drag to rotate the view, and use the mouse wheel or pinch to zoom in and out. Because this game is decided by how quickly you take cards, “Undo move” is not available. 2 players competing on one device is not available on this page yet.

Strategy tips

• If you first learn the second halves of the 7 one-syllable poems, you can start looking for their cards as soon as the first kana appears.
• Next, learn the 42 two-syllable poems in groups by their first syllable. If you choose “One- and two-syllable cards (49 poems)” for the card range, you can practice with just those 49 poems.
• Once you know which second half goes with each first half, work on shortening the time from when the kana start to appear until you press the card. In solo practice, the result shows your average time for the cards you took.
• In one-on-one play, if you send your opponent a card with long kimariji, your opponent cannot press it until the poem is decided, so they take it later.

Origin and history of Hyakunin Isshu Karuta

The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu is a collection of waka poems by 100 poets, one poem each, thought to have been selected by Fujiwara no Teika. It is estimated to have been compiled in the first half of the 13th century.^[1]

When woodblock printing spread in the Edo period (1603–1868), the Hyakunin Isshu spread among ordinary people as illustrated poetry cards (uta-garuta), and it also became popular as a game.^[1]

The ways of competing for the cards differed by region and by karuta club. In 1904, Kuroiwa Ruiko founded the Tokyo Karuta Club, brought the rules together, and held competitive karuta tournaments. Competitive karuta today is played under the rules set by the All Japan Karuta Association.^[3]

Sources

1. Wikipedia (Japanese), “小倉百人一首” [Ogura Hyakunin Isshu] (opens in a new tab)
2. Wikipedia (Japanese), “決まり字” [Kimariji] (opens in a new tab)
3. Wikipedia (Japanese), “競技かるた” [Competitive karuta] (opens in a new tab)
4. All Japan Karuta Association, “競技規程” [Competition rules] (March 31, 2019; in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
5. Hyakunin Isshu Dojo, “百人一首かるたの遊び方” [How to play Hyakunin Isshu karuta] (in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)

Frequently asked questions

Is Hyakunin Isshu Karuta free to play?

Yes, it’s free. You don’t need to sign up or install an app. You can play the computer or practice solo in the 3D view in your browser.

What are kimariji?

They tell you how many syllables from the start of a poem’s first half you need to hear before you know which poem it is. In the Hyakunin Isshu, 7 poems are decided by 1 syllable, and 6 poems aren’t decided until you hear 6 syllables. As more cards are read, fewer syllables are needed to tell the remaining cards apart.

Which 7 poems are decided by 1 syllable?

They’re poems 87 (“murasame no”), 18 (“suminoe no”), 57 (“meguri aite”), 22 (“fuku karani”), 70 (“sabishisa ni”), 81 (“hototogisu”), and 77 (“se o hayami”). Some people remember them by joining their first syllables into “mu-su-me-fu-sa-ho-se”.

Can I add dakuten to the grabbing cards?

Yes. Traditional grabbing cards are written without dakuten, so the default is no dakuten, but you can add them by turning on “Add dakuten to grabbing cards” in the menu.

What happens when you make a fault?

In scattered play, you can’t press a card for the next poem. In one-on-one play, your opponent sends you 1 card. In one-on-one play, pressing a different card in the territory that has the card of the poem being read isn’t a fault.

Can I play with friends?

Yes. In the menu, choose “Play a friend (send a link)” to create an invite link and send it to your friend. Scattered play is for 2–4 players and One-on-one is for 2, and the game starts when everyone has joined. The poem is shown to everyone at the same time, and each device measures the time from the first syllable to your press, so a faster connection does not decide who takes the card. You can fill empty seats with the computer (Medium) using “Fill empty seats with the computer”, and the computer also takes over the seat of anyone who leaves or stays disconnected.

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