About | ゲームについて
For learners of Japanese, tackling the first alphabet, Hiragana is one of the first – and sometimes difficult – steps of learning. While there are many resources out there, I wanted to make something quick, fun, and most of all interactive. As an avid board game and card game player, I believe games are a fantastic way to get people together. And when you’re learning a language, communicating with other people is the point – so why not have a interesting way to jump in?
The concept is simple – the alphabets Hiragana (and also Katakana), can be arranged into rows and columns. Starting with that base, you can think of some games already – but not only that, many Japanese words can be formed by combining only 2 characters. This opens up many possibilities.
Combined with my experience and refined over a few iterations, I designed the cards to be flexible and adaptable to many games, just like a standard deck of cards. I’ve included some rules on this page (and in the box), but expect more to come in the future as others experiment!
Contents | コンテンツ
46 Unique Hiragana Cards
+1 extra ん 'n' Hiragana card
4 "Modifier" cards
3 double-sided reference cards
Double-sided rules sheet for 2 games: Last Kana and Cross Kana
Game Rules | ゲームのルール
Many games can be played with Kana Cards! As I create more games and rulesets, they’ll be available here. Narabe Kana is viewable by anyone as a sample; all other games rulesets can only be viewed by those who purchase the cards (physical or digital).
Goal
Be the first player to play all cards from your hand by building out the Hiragana Gojūon grid (minus ‘y’ and ‘w’).
What is Gojūon? Just like the English alphabet is ordered from A → Z, Japanese Hiragana also follows an order, although it’s more like a grid.
If you look at your reference card or any Hiragana chart, reading from right to left you’ll see the consonant columns go: plain vowels (or a) → k → s → t → n → h → m → y → r → w (and n). Meanwhile, Each row on the chart represents a vowel, going from top to bottom a → i → u → e → o.
In this game we are only concerned with the first order, the columns going right and left.
Setup
- Remove the ‘y‘ and ‘w‘ column full-colour cards and the modifier cards.
- Optionally, keep 1 ん ‘n’ card.
- Take all 8 green ‘u‘ cards and line them up in a row in the middle of the table. From right to left: (う、く、す 、つ、ぬ、ふ、む、る)
- Shuffle the rest of the cards, then deal all of them out evenly to each player.
- If there are any extra cards, place them on the grid as a free space.
- Decide who goes first.
How To Play
Playing a card:
On your turn, you can play a card onto the board above or below an existing card.
For example:
Since the game starts with the ‘u‘ row, the next cards that can be played are any cards from the ‘i’ or ‘e’ rows. As you can see, き ‘ki’ can be played above く ‘ku’, as well as け ‘ke’ can be placed below く ‘ku’.
‘a’ and ‘o’ column cards can’t be placed until there is an adjacent card played.
Tunneling Rule:
Normally, to play ‘a‘ cards, you need to have an ‘i‘ card placed on the board.
However with the tunneling rule, if ‘u‘ -> ‘e‘ -> and -> ‘o‘ are placed, it’s possible to play ‘a‘! In the example, つ、て、and と were played allowing た to be played without needing ち. Of course, you can still play ち above つ instead of た.
The same applies if you want to tunnel the other direction and play an ‘o‘ card without having played a ‘e‘ card.
Passing:
If you cannot or aren’t willing to play a card, you can pass. You can pass up to 3 times in 1 game. If you pass a 4th time you lose.
TIP: You may intentionally pass to block another player from putting a card down. It’s a strategy!
The first player to play all their cards wins!
You can keep going or start a new round.
OPTIONAL RULES: ん ‘n’ the Joker
If playing with ん ‘n‘, you can place the ん ‘n‘ next to any card as a joker.
However, there are two conditions:
- You must not have the card that is missing
- You must have the card that is supposed to come next and play it together with the joker.
For example, if you have ろ ‘ro‘ and ん ‘n‘ but don’t have れ ‘re‘, you can play ん + ろ at the same time under る ‘ru‘.
Once a joker is played, the player who owns the substituted card – in this case れ ‘re‘ – must immediately exchange their card and take the joker into their hand. This does not count as their turn.
OPTIONAL RULES: One-way Tunnel
For a bit of extra challenge, you can play with this rule:
After completing one side of a column and creating a tunnel, you can no longer play cards from the beginning of the tunnel.
For example, if completing う -> え -> お, the next card played in that column can only be あ, not い. The same works the opposite way.
Online rules coming soon. If you bought Kana Cards, please check for the rulesheet in the box.
Online rules coming soon. If you bought Kana Cards, please check for the rulesheet in the box.
Where To Buy | 購入
Kana Cards have a small print run that is currently available to purchase locally or for shipping in Canada.
Are you a Japanese language teacher or a Japanese school? Please contact me directly to discuss volume pricing.
Toronto or Ontario (Local Pickup or Shipping)
Local pickup is available – after (or before) ordering, we can arrange where and when to pick up the cards in Toronto. Shipping is also available.
Outside of Canada
I’m not able to ship outside of Canada right now, but please stay tuned for the international campaign in the future!
In the meantime, if you want to print at home, you can get the printable PDF plus other games I’m designing through supporting me on Ko-Fi.
