Hanafuda (‘First Cherry Blossom’)

花札 (初櫻)

Release: Pre-WWII

Manufacturer: Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd.

This deck features a traditional form of kanji characters (‘kyūjitai’) used before 1947. (櫻 instead of 桜). However the 任天堂 name form is written left to right (‘yokogaki – 横書き) which was common after WWII. Therefore this deck is likely dated to almost immediately after WWII.

Compare this to a similar deck of the same Hanafuda brand that dates from before the war.