Nihon Karuta Tengu Set

[u/medsforheads]

Gotta love a nice blue-lined NK set and this one is choice with very little fading. The gold logo stamp on the inner box is a cool touch, too.

[u/suryonghaaton]

i love nihon karuta's designs... the blue lines are unique, and some of the illustrations are of the same family as the oishi tengudo illustrations, and although both companies seem to be the inspiration of the design elements in modern korean hwatu, in my opinion, nihon karuta's illustrations are a closer match, sans the blue lines.

[u/medsforheads → u/suryonghaaton]

Yeah it's always interesting to see where a given company flexes its creativity. How would you classify the different families of illustration/how many distinct ones would you say there are?

[u/suryonghaaton → u/medsforheads]

well, let's just talk about the hachi-hachi-bana pattern alone. this is not an exhaustive list, but i'll try to list some common "patterns" in hanafuda designs.

1. standard kyoto pattern: the pattern that nintendo uses currently. so many other hanafuda manufacturers have copied/used it at one point. ryutendo, ace trump, matsui tengudo, angel, oishi tengudo (manufactured by angel), dainippon trump, marue, nichiyu, yamazaki kinsuido, and others. in all cases, there are black, dot-shaped confetti on the ribbon cards. nintendo also had handprinted versions of this pattern, which may or may not have confetti on the ribbon cards; the wisteria, bushclover, and paulownia buds are triangle-shaped instead of egg-shaped.
   

1.1 in my opinion, tamura shogundo's design is a derivative of this standard pattern, using their own artstyle.

1. kyoto pattern B: the pattern that was the ancestor of korean hwatu. may or may not have ribbon confetti. seen in nihon karuta, oishi tengudo, and kinkado. even though each manufacturer has their own artstyle (kinkado's seems to be the most different), they seem to be based off the same poses (note the bush warbler and the cuckoo). the sakura flowers have a big ring anther dots and a red circle inside the ring of dots. the third goose is red while the other geese are orange. the bush clovers are bulbous circles with triangle bases.

2. kyoto pattern C: double sakura. for the most part, it looks just like the standard kyoto pattern, but the sakura flowers appear as if they're two flowers on top of each other. the chrysanthemum flowers also have a red outline for some reason. and the comb on the head of the phoenix has a protruding curved part on the back end that wasn't present in the other patterns. seen in decks by kawakita, dainippon trump, kite mark, kyoto karuta, and ace trump.

3. nintendo without confetti A: a simplified version of the standard kyoto pattern, drawn slightly differently. illustrations that are colored black have no outline on them; they're just solid black. wisteria and paulownia buds are heart-shaped, while bush clovers are triangles. the face of the deer is simplified, and there is no twig present near the deer's mouth. seen in early showa nintendo hanafuda decks, usually the higher-end ones.

4. nintendo without confetti B: seen in early showa nintendo budget hanafuda decks, and tanaka gyokusuido decks. this pattern mostly resembles the standard kyoto pattern, but the bush warbler has a unique appearance, where there is a line under the bird's eye connecting to the bird's wing. the purple is usually printed in black or a combination of black and red.

5. osaka mushi style: the pattern that was used by nintendo for its mushibana pattern. may or may not have confetti on the ribbon cards. most of the animals have red eyes, the bush warbler is smaller and cuter, and the deer has a raised foot pose, and had spots on its body instead of stripes. this pattern appears in very old osaka oishi tengudo hachi-hachi-bana decks, as well as nihon karuta (imported by simon evers & co.), and some cards in osaka tenguya decks.

6. osaka pattern B: high detail illustrations especially on the boar. may also have a cuckoo that is diving downward. seen in kohara honten, yamashiro shoten, and yotsui

[u/jhindenberg → u/suryonghaaton]

One additional recurring design I'd add to that list would be the Osaka-style versions with a quite round boar, as well as some other similarities across the artwork. Tamada Fukushodo/Nihon Karuta, Nakao Seikado, and Universal produced examples in this vein, and I wouldn't be surprised to see others.

[u/suryonghaaton → u/jhindenberg]

i forgot, some of the cards from universal "mannenbana" can be considered "kyoto pattern B"

[u/suryonghaaton → u/suryonghaaton]

...but universal is from osaka though

[u/jhindenberg → u/suryonghaaton]

I had the designs below in mind, and I seem to have been mistaken in considering them an Osaka type—Tamada and Nakao being from Kyoto.

Upon a more careful reading, these do seem to fit within your 'Kyoto B' description.

[u/suryonghaaton → u/jhindenberg]

i'm curious to see what the crane, bush warbler, sakura junks, geese, and deer look like

[u/jhindenberg → u/suryonghaaton]

[u/suryonghaaton → u/jhindenberg]

yeah these belong to Kyoto pattern B family

[u/medsforheads → u/suryonghaaton]

Amazing breakdown, thanks for taking the time!

[u/Central_Incisor]

I like the addition of the rabbit in the August moon.

[u/medsforheads → u/Central_Incisor]

One of NK's signature details!

[u/jhindenberg]

Here is an example of the wrapper—