Traditional “Karuta” Card Game Ceremony at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto

January 5, 2011 - Culture, Game & Toy, Place - Tagged: Cards, Kyoto, New Year

On January 3, “Karuta Hajime” ceremony was customarily held at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, and women and children in Japanese dynasty costumes performed karuta game to the visitors.

"aurelio.asiain" some rights reserved. flickr

"aurelio.asiain" some rights reserved. flickr

Karuta is a Japanese card game where players quickly find and pick the right card that a reader announced from array of cards.

The ceremony is annually organized by Nihon Karuta-in Hon-in wishing for the spread of karuta game. Yasaka Shrine enshrines Susanoo-no-Mikoto, a god in Japanese mythology, and it is said that he composed the very first tanka (Japanese poem).

The video below is this year’s Karuta Hajime. You can see the serious players!