Caption: "FLOWER-CARDS"
Quote: "The great gambling game is that of the cards known as “flower-cards,” which is rapidly played and depends more upon chance than upon skill. The pack is made up of forty-eight cards, about an inch by an inch and a half, which are in twelve sets, each set representing a month of the year. The first set has a picture of the pine-tree, which, being the principal part of the New Year’s outdoor decorations, symbolises the first month. It is followed in order by the plum-tree, cherry-tree, wistaria, sweet-flag, tree-peony, and lespedeza, which flower in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh months respectively. The eighth month is represented by the eularia, the ninth by the chrysanthemum, the tenth by the maple-tree, the eleventh by the willow-tree, and the last by the paulownia. It may be stated in passing that these months follow the old lunar calendar and are therefore some weeks later than the corresponding months of the solar calendar. All the cards are not of the same value. The highest, which is twenty points, is assigned to the pine-tree with a crane in the middle and a red sun above, the cherry-tree in bloom with a curtain underneath for a picnic party, the eularia under the full harvest moon, the willow under which a great scholar is learning perseverance from a frog which succeeds after many hours’ vain attempts in reaching a branch, and the paulownia with the phœnix flying over it. Ten points each are given to nine cards, namely, the plum-tree with the bush-warbler, the wistaria with the cuckoo, the sweet-flag beside a plank path, the tree-peony with butterflies, the lespedeza with the wild boar, the eularia with wild ducks, the chrysanthemum with a wooden cup for the chrysanthemum-sake, the maple-tree with the stag, and the willow-tree with the swallow. Five points are the value of the cards with a tanzaku, a long strip of paper for an ode; there are ten of them, that is, all the sets except the eularia and paulownia. The remaining twenty-four cards are worth only a point each. Thus, five cards at twenty points, nine at ten points, ten at five, and twenty-four at a point each, make the total value of the pack two hundred and sixty-four points. The game is played by three persons. As many as six may join in it and the cards be dealt to them; but three of them must throw up their hands. First, the dealer declares whether he will play or not and is followed in order by the rest. If any players remain after three have declared their intention to play, such persons may quietly give up play or, if their hands are good, they may insist upon being bought out. The player who has a free choice and elects not to play, has to pay a forfeit, from which those forced to retire are exempted. The players may be reduced to two, and sometimes only to one, in which case he is declared the winner. The cards are first dealt out seven to each player and six others are turned up on the table. The players who retire return their cards, which are shuffled into the pile of undealt cards. When it has been settled who are to play, the dealer, or if he does not play, the one nearest to him looks at his hand to see if he has one of the same suit as any of the open cards; if he has, he takes the latter with his card and put the two aside; but if he has none to match or thinks it disadvantageous to take a card, he throws down a card which has no match on the table. Next, he takes the top card of the pile and opens it; if it matches with any of the open cards on the table, he takes the pair and puts them aside; but if it does not match, he throws it down exposed among the open cards. The others follow in the same manner. As the number of cards in the three hands is twenty-one and six are open on the table, the undealt cards also number twenty-one; and as every player matches or throws down a card in his hand and opens one of the pile, the last card of the last player is played when the last of the pile is turned up. The players then reckon the total value of the cards in their possession; and according as that value is more or less than eighty-eight, which is one-third of the value of the whole pack, the difference between the two represents their gain or loss. The winner of the largest number also gets the forfeits paid by the retired players. This is the simplest form of the game. It is usually complicated by claims allowed for certain combinations found in the hands dealt. Thus, if three of the seven cards are of the same suit, the holder can claim a forfeit of one and a half dozen points from each of the other two; the forfeit becomes two dozen points for two or more tanzaku cards among plain ones, three dozens for a plain hand with only one card of a higher value, four dozens for three pairs of suits or a complete hand of plain cards, six dozens for two sets of three cards of the same suit, and so on to the highest which is twenty dozens for four cards of one suit and three of another. Then again, if certain sets of cards are won in the course of a game, that game is closed and the value for such sets is claimed from each of the other two. Thus, six dozen points are allowed for the three purple-tanzaku cards of the chrysanthemum, tree-peony, and maple, or the three red-tanzaku cards of the pine, plum, and cherry trees, and ten dozens for the four twenty-point cards of the pine, cherry, eularia, and paulownia, and twelve dozens if that of the willow is added to them. These payments for combinations make the game very exciting. Twelve games, to match with the months of the year, make a rubber, at the end of which the reckoning is made. For counting purposes two sets of counters are distributed, one of the value of one point each and the other of a dozen points. First, counters to the amount of ten dozen points are allotted to each player; but of this amount three or four dozens are pooled to be given to the highest winner of the rubber, and so that lucky person really gets far more than his actual winnings. When a player has gone through his first lot of counters, he borrows more from the bank. At the end of a rubber when the settlement is made, the payment, if the game is played for money, is made at so much per point; and even though the unit may be of a small value, the total account often comes to a respectable sum.