Hatsuzakura Hanafuda (‘First Cherry Blossom’)

初櫻 花札

Hatsuzakura Hanafuda

Release: Pre-WWII

Manufacturer: Marufuku Co. Ltd.

playing cards hanafuda hatsuzakura 初櫻 first sakura 03
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playing cards hanafuda hatsuzakura 初櫻 first sakura 01
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Hatsuzakura (初櫻, First Cherry Blossom) was one of Nintendo’s budget brands of hanafuda decks.

It is known to be used from the 1920’s through the late 1950’s before being discontinued. The version pictured likely dates from the late 1930s to the early 1940s.

This deck predates another version of the same Hanfuda brand. Note that the kanji for ‘Nin-ten-do’ reads right to left here, dating it from before the World War II period and subsequent Japanese writing system reforms.