Defensive karuta is a style of karuta focused on defending the cards on your side. It is often a more passive type of play that could be said to be about not making mistakes and playing to the strength of your own layout, which should give a slight advantage in memorization/comfort compared to the opponent’s layout. However, just as offensive […]
“Offensive Karuta” is a style of karuta focused on taking cards from the opponent sides. It is used by many players, and has various advantages/disadvantages. Advantages: can be easier to control the flow of the game if you successfully attack are able to “get rid” of cards you don’t want, send cards that make it more difficult for the opponent […]
“Anchor card” is a term I came up with for a personal concept of sorts where I use cards that I am good at taking, having a strong mental image for, or are simply favorites to help memorize a layout more easily. For instance, let’s say I have the following layout (taken from the Online Karuta app for convenience): Let’s […]
Introduction Card recognition is one of the first things karuta players learn, but it doesn’t stop at simply being able to tell what poem is on what card—the quicker you can tell what a card is and tell it apart from other cards, the easier it can be to memorize and reconfirm cards when playing in a match. Of course, […]
These videos contain recitations of the 100 poems of the Hyakunin Isshu in a random order, which can be used as audio to play or listen to. (Note that apps like “Inaba-kun” and “Wasuramoti”, which you can find in the resources tab, can also be used for this, and that these are just an alternative.) (Source) – Watching this video […]
Tips courtesy of Pennwisdom from reddit (source): This one may be obvious, but you should have a 定位置, or a standard placement method, and all the below points refer to this. Single syllable cards are generally placed closest to you for most people, or on the bottom row. Long Cards are usually placed either on an outer or inner edge, […]
Want to learn how to play Karuta, but don’t know how to start? Language barrier make you feel like you can’t? Tired of not knowing where to look for more info? If so, you’ve (hopefully) come to the right place—we’ll be adding lots of different resources and info for aspiring English-speaking Karuta players here, so check back soon if you’re […]