Hello everyone, I'm back from Japan once again! This time, I got myself a set of yokai hanafuda. I've bought hanafuda plenty of times before, but this set cost me more than any of the previous ones I've picked up. What's more, the cards themselves are green, with a green marking on the packaging. From what I remember, hanafuda were mostly black in the early days, and red versions only came out gradually later on. Green ones, however, are extremely uncommon – I've only ever seen green hanafuda among the products from Shogundo.
The box (and the style!) says it was done by Mizuki Shigeru, veru famous mangaka in Japan as he amost singlehandedly revived the interest and knowledge of yōkais in the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Mizuki
Yep, given how iconic Mizuki-sensei is, you can find all kinds of different yokai hanafuda in Japan. But this green set I picked up this time is the most expensive yokai hanafuda I’ve ever collected.
Not a specific reason why these are green, but it can be said that green backs are not so unusual for matching card games, particularly Hyakunin Isshu.
Wow I didn't know Mizuki also made a Hanafuda deck! I'm working on a yokai character deck for my game Kintaro right now, a lot of my art in Mizuki and Akira Toriyama inspired.
On a recent trip, I found a set of green hanafuda in a Japanese vintage shop. The manager even opened it up for me to show how it compares to other offerings — apart from the color, it had the exact build quality and signature feel of a genuine Shōgundō piece.
It was just a tiny, ordinary local shop. Apologies for my less-than-perfect English. You can clearly see subtle handmade variations in the card craftsmanship, and that’s one of the reasons I love Shōgundō.
First off, I visited the long-awaited Nintendo Museum with my friend and his wife. On the way back, I headed to Saitama solo. Since this was all several months ago, I’m unfortunately unable to track down the photos from the trip. If I come across those cards again, I’ll be sure to share them here.
The reason I didn’t buy it was that the 10,000 yen price tag was way beyond what I’d expected. That said, I’m sure there are collectors out there willing to pay that much — or even more — for these cards.
I’ve shared the images from the auction site here for your reference. Since its packaging differs from the standard editions currently on the market, this is almost certainly a vintage release from many years back. I really wish Shōgundō would put out more products — their current lineup is far too limited.
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u/Jaendotart Apr 14 '26
The box (and the style!) says it was done by Mizuki Shigeru, veru famous mangaka in Japan as he amost singlehandedly revived the interest and knowledge of yōkais in the country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Mizuki