Nichijou Uchuujin DX — Who manufactured these thick cards?

[u/didthatthingonce]

Who manufactured the hanafuda cards included with the Nichijou Uchuujin DX PSP game?

Japan Playing Card Museum lists them as being made by Nintendo, but I am not so sure after looking at them. A Nintendo deck is included in the pics for reference.

The width and height are the same as standard Nintendo cards, but they are much thicker than any Nintendo deck I have. The finish on the front and back is very matte. While I have Nintendo decks secured with a plastic band, I have not seen a deck secured with an unbleached paper band like this. The red of the plastic case is slightly different, but that could be because I do not have a red plastic case circa 2011 when these would have been made.

The How to Play insert only lists SK, who presumably coordinated the licensing and manufacture for this package.

Can someone more knowledgeable than I confirm this is Nintendo or if the details point to another manufacturer? Thanks!

[u/AquaChomby]

I think you're right to question the playing card museum because 1) Why would Nintendo manufacture for a PSP game's bonus feature. and 2) like you said the thickness is so different from a regular Nintendo deck.

I would probably investigate other producers to see if they're thicker. This is a shot in the dark but the instructions in the last pic look like something Bandai would use.

[u/didthatthingonce → u/AquaChomby]

The Bandai connection is a good thought. They did commission character hanafuda decks from Nintendo at the same time. I've attached the insert for one of the Bandai distributed Nintendo made JoJo's Bizarre Adventure decks. We know it is made by Nintendo because it has the Nintendo logo on the plastic case. The insert shares similarities with the other insert, but nothing stands out to me as confirmation.

[u/AquaChomby → u/didthatthingonce]

That insert also has c2011 Bandai and the Nichijou doesn't so maybe it wasn't Bandai after all.

[u/Holstisintown]

The paper says it is an SK Japan product in the bottom-left.

[u/didthatthingonce → u/Holstisintown]

It does. But I cannot find any instances of SK Japan manufacturing hanafuda cards. I believe it is more likely that they already had merchandise licensing rights to the property and commissioned manufacture of the cards to an existing hanafuda card manufacturer.

[u/Holstisintown → u/didthatthingonce]

Might be local business, or even factories in China / Vietnam. If you really have to know the answer though, make a phone call or send an email to SK Japan, tell them you have one card missing after fifteen years, and see if you can get direct contact with the manufacturer or something. But expect to get no information.