Editing Karuta (section)

===Iroha karuta===
''Iroha karuta'' (Japanese: {{lang|ja|いろはかるた}}) is an easier-to-understand matching game for children, similar to Uta-garuta but with 96 cards. Instead of poems, the cards represent the 47 [[syllables]] of the [[hiragana]] syllabary and adds ''kyō'' ({{lang|ja|京}}, "capital") for the 48th (since the syllable ''-n'' {{lang|ja|ん}} can never start any word or phrase). It uses the old [[iroha]] ordering for the syllables which includes two obsolete syllables, ''[[Wi (kana)|wi]]'' ({{lang|ja|ゐ}}) and ''[[We (kana)|we]]'' ({{lang|ja|ゑ}}). A typical ''torifuda'' features a drawing with a ''[[kana]]'' at one corner of the card. Its corresponding ''yomifuda'' features a [[proverb]] connected to the picture with the first syllable being the ''kana'' displayed on the ''torifuda''. There are 3 standard Iroha karuta variants: [[Kamigata]], [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]] and [[Owari Province|Owari]]. Each variant has its own set of proverbs based on the local dialect and culture. The Kamigata or [[Kyoto]] version is the oldest but the Edo version is the most widespread, being found all over Japan. The Owari variant existed only during the latter half of the 19th-century before being supplanted by the Edo version.

====Obake karuta====
[[Image:Obake Karuta 4-07.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Obake karuta, c. early 19th century. This one is ''we'' ({{lang|ja|ゑ}}), an obsolete syllable.]]

''Obake karuta'' is an obsolete variation of Iroha karuta unique to Tokyo. The cards were created in the [[Edo period]] and remained popular through the 1910s or 1920s.<ref name="Pflugfelder">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keenecenter.org/godzilla_room2.html |title=Godzilla Conquers the Globe: Japanese Movie Monsters in International Film Art – Exhibition Room #2: Rare Book Reading Room From Folk Monsters to Mass Monsters |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, [[Columbia University]] |last=Pflugfelder |first=Gregory M. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704134315/http://www.keenecenter.org/godzilla_room2.html |archive-date=2021-07-04 |url-status=live |orig-date=2004 |at=Display Case 8: Monster merchandise (II)}}</ref> Each card in the deck features a hiragana syllable and a creature from [[Japanese mythology]]; in fact, ''[[obake]] karuta'' means ''ghost cards'' or ''monster cards''.<ref name="Pflugfelder"/> Success requires knowledge of Japanese mythology and folklore as players attempt to collect cards that match clues read by a referee. The player who accumulates the most cards by the end of the game wins.

''Obake karuta'' is an early example of the common Japanese fascination with classifying monsters and creating new ones. The game is one of the earliest attempts by Japanese companies to categorize legendary creatures, label them, define them, and subsequently market them. As such, it is a precursor to the ''[[Godzilla]]'' films of the 1950s and later. Even more closely, ''obake karuta'' resembles the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' or ''[[Pokémon Trading Card Game]]'', which also involves [[collectible card game|collecting cards]] that represent fabulous creatures. In fact, many Pokémon were designed specifically after creatures from Japanese mythology.<ref name="Pflugfelder"/>