Hello! This is the blog How Unique Japan! How are you? This time, we will discuss an old card game in Japan.
What do you think about any card games? Magic and ●thering or Pokem●n?
So, the players should compare their advantages and manage to make a better plan against the opponents. It should be a basic card game, a mind game, not a physical.
However, do you imagine there is such a game (physical card game) in Japan? Let me introduce you to the card game. It is called Menko!
How to play with the Menko Cards?
First, we need to put some cards on the ground. All card surfaces must be up. (There is no rule on how many, but both players should put the same numbers from their card deck for fairness.)
Then, the attacker SLAMS the card to just the side of the opponent’s card on the ground and blows it upside down. It sounds impossible, but the wind would make it possible.
When the card got slammed on the grand, the breeze would happen. Such weak wind would make cards float and get them upside down. If the attacker successfully does that, the flipped card becomes his point. That means the attacker can snatch and collect the card.
By how many cards they get, the player wins.
Therefore, the Menko cards must be hard/tough due to their playing style. That is why they are cardboard.
The history
The time it was born is vague because no one can prove the exact time.
A historical theory says that it would be around the Edo era (1603 – 1868 AC). In that era, the card was from Thick Cray. The cray was burned well to be a mess of pottery. Thus, players usually break it during the game.
After the Maizi era (from 1868 to 1912 AC), the ingredients of the cards changed. That one was the metal Lead.
However, that soon became disabled because of its poison. So now, it has been replaced with cardboard.
Menko designs
After WW2, the design also got better because of better printing technology. All of them are now well printed, but the design always follows the old style. (Please look at the picture below.)
As you recognized, some sizes are different. It is a strategy to choose which card would make better affection (causing good air pressure and wind).
To close
So, it is a simple game. It is slamming and flipping the enemy card upside down. But such a rule also makes it a more complicated game than we think because of the strategies/techniques. It is the interestingness of the old Japanese card game Menko.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! This time, we touched on one of the Japanese traditional toys. But there are still so many unique toys in Japan. If you are still interested in another Japanese Uniqueness, feel free to visit the front page of my blog.
OK then, see your next article!