All Potential Kimariji (including Half-Syllables) Alternative Thinking Breakdown
The point of this post is for me to break down what all the potential kimariji are for myself in an attempt to better internalize all the possibilities and the points at which I need to listen for the actual sound that distinguishes one card from another.
While this is something I made for myself to help organize my thoughts and better understand changes in kimariji, the timings of taking them, etc., I am posting this publicly in case seeing my thought process might help someone. However, as I am not a very skilled player myself, please do be warned that these should be treated more like talking out loud and that it is not proper advice or anything.
Notes:
– Bolded letters are the actual character that should be listened for to differentiate the card from similar cards
– Card names are written in romaji, and might not be accurate to how they are actually pronounced or written. This is intentional.
– In general, this exercise is geared towards English-speaking people and thinkers. This means that from a more traditional/proper karuta experience or perspective, or a Japanese perspective, it will probably seem wrong or not make sense. Again, this is intentional, and the ideas in it represent an alternative (at least as far as I know) way of thinking.
– The initial breakdown does not take into account cards that I can hear early, as not only does which cards a person can differentiate early differ from person to person, but hearing cards early in general may be inconsistent/unreliable at times.
– How to define the ‘A’ cards with something subjective like this is very ambiguous. To me, it felt like if I treated shortened ‘A’ cards like 2-syllables, it’s harder to take them quickly; but if I treat them like 1-syllables where I’m listening for the first consonant after the ‘A’, then it’s easier to take them, because I’m focused on distinguishing at a better point. Thus, I have considered most of the shortened ‘A’ cards to be 1-1.5 syllables depending on how short they are. However, when the many 3-syllable ‘A’ cards are read, I find them easier to take at a normal “3-syllable” timing. I think this difference comes heavily down to the reader. If there is more of a “pause” after the 2nd syllable (e.g. Ama-tsu kaze), then it feels more like a 3-syllable (“2.5-syllable” because none of the ‘a’ cards come down to the vowel in the 3rd syllable) timing. If it’s more fluid and less enunciated, it’s closer to a 2-syllable timing. For this, I decided to consider them the former, but timings will always need to be adapted to different readers and such. Also, this general idea also applies to Imawa/Imako.
Full Kimariji Breakdown:
- M
- Me
- Mo
- Moro
- Momo
- Mu
- Mi
- Miyo
- Mise
- Michi
- Mika
- Mikano
- Mikaki
- S
- Sa
- Se
- Su
- Fu
- H
- Ho
- Hi
- Hisa
- Hito
- Hitowa
- Hitomo
- Ha
- Hana
- Hanano
- Hanasa
- Haru
- Haruno
- Harusu
- Hana
- U
- Ura
- Uka
- Ts
- Tsuku
- Tsuki
- Sh
- Shino
- Shira
- Y
- Yu
- Yura
- Yuu
- Ya
- Yasu
- Yae
- Yama
- Yamaza
- Yamaga
- Yo
- Yomo
- Yoo
- Yono
- Yononakawa
- Yononakayo
- Yu
- I
- Ini
- Ima
- Imawa
- Imako
- Ch
- Chiha
- Chigi
- Chigirio
- Chigiriki
- K
- Ki
- Kiri
- Kimi
- Kimigatameha
- Kimigatameo
- Ka
- Kasa
- Kaku
- Kaze
- Kazeo
- Kazeso
- Ko
- Koi
- Kore
- Kon
- Kono
- Konu
- Koko
- Kokoroni
- Kokoroa
- Ki
- T
- Tama
- Tago
- Tare
- Tachi
- Tak
- Taki
- Taka
- O
- Omo
- Oto
- Ogu
- Oku
- Oo
- Ooe
- Ook
- Ooko
- Ooke
- W
- Wabi
- Waga
- Wagai
- Wagaso
- Wasu
- Wasure
- Wasura
- Wata
- Watanoharako
- Watanoharaya
- N
- Natsu
- Nag
- Naga
- Nagara
- Nagaka
- Nage
- Nageki
- Nageke
- Naga
- Nani
- Nanishi
- Naniwa
- Naniwaga
- Naniwae
- A
- Ai
- Ashi
- Ak
- Ake
- Aki
- Akino
- Akika
- Ama
- Amano
- Amatsu
- Awa
- Aware
- Awaji
- Ar
- Ari
- Arima
- Aria
- Ara
- Araza
- Arashi
- Ari
- Asa
- Asaji
- Asabo
- Asaborakea
- Asaborakeu
With the potential changes broken down to half-characters, let’s now look at how many of each type there are.
.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:
M S F H U Ts Sh Y I Ch K T O W N A
Count: 1 by default, 16 total
1 Syllable Timing Sounds:
Me Mo Mu Mi Sa Se Su Ho Hi Ha Ur Uk Yu Ya Yo In Im Ki Ka Ko Om Ot Og Ok Oo Ai Ash Ak Am Aw Ar As
14 by default, 32 total
1.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:
Mor Mom Miy Mis Mich Mik His Hit Han Har Han Shin Shir Yur Yuu Yas Yae Yam Yom Yoo Yon Chih Chig Kir Kim Kas Kak Kaz Koi Kor Kon Kok Tam Tag Tar Tach Tak Wab Wag Was Wat Nats Nag Nan Ake Aki Ari Ara
27 by default, 48 total
2 Syllable Timing Sounds:
Tsuku Tsuki Kono Konu Taki Taka Ooe* Ook* Naga Nage
7 by default, 10 total
*The way I hear “oo” usually read, I think the deciding sound is at a timing closer to a 2-syllable timing than a 1.5 syllable timing, so I put them here instead.
2.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:
Mikan Mikak Hitow Hitom Hanan Hanas Harun Harus Yamaz Yamag Imaw Imak Kazeo Kazes Ooko Ooke Wagai Wagas Nagar Nagak Nanish Naniw Akin Akik Aman Amats Awar Awaj Arim Aria Araz Arash Asaj Asab
31 by default, 34 total
3 Syllable Timing Sounds:
Wasure Wasura Nageki Nageke
4 by default, 4 total
3.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:
Chigirio Chigirik Kokoron Kokoroa Naniwag Naniwae
6 by default, 6 total
4.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:
Yononakaw Yononakay
2 by default, 2 total
5.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:
Kimigatameh Kimigatameo Watanoharak Watanoharay Asaborakea Asaborakeu
6 by default, 6 total
Total possible sounds by which to take cards: 158
Analysis, Possible Conclusions, Reflection, etc.:
Since 1 and 1.5 syllable timing sounds combine for 80/158 possible sounds, focusing on them could be very effective. The next biggest group is the 2.5 syllable group. However, this group is unlikely to grow in size much, and about half the potential cards in it will turn into shorter syllables once their tomofuda is taken, whereas more of the cards in the 1.5 syllable group will keep their timing even when a tomofuda is taken because they have multiple tomofuda, such as the “mi”, “ta”, and “ko” cards. Also, sometimes multiple cards can be taken based on the same sound and timing on a single side, e.g. if watanoharako and watanoharaya are on the same side they can both be taken at “wat(a)”. If one of these cards is read/taken, the other one can still be taken in basically the same way (with some exceptions, such as if they are split and a player is waiting instead of trying to take both via watarite), which can give certain timings and kimariji a sense of “extra value”. This is in part because the players won’t need to adapt the timing or sound that they are anticipating in order to take one card after its tomofuda has been read, whereas in other cases one card of a pair being read changes the kimariji of its tomofuda.
Based on the default amounts of each group of sounds/timings, this definitely means that, from a statistical standpoint, and given an even distribution of cards, it could be considered more worthwhile to focus on the 1.5-syllable and 2.5-syllable timings at the beginning of the game. This is simply because it’s more likely there are cards of these timings on the field. Of course, the actual distribution of cards in a game can vary, however, so it could also be worthwhile to check what are the actual timings of the cards on the field. Furthermore, if certain tomofuda are on the same side, it could actually shorten the kimariji before any of the cards are read, or a card could actually have its kimariji timing “increase” (be later) if sending it would “undo” the shortening, so to speak.
In particular, the “2 Syllable” and “3 Syllable” timing sounds are like “off-beat” cards, where for most of them, the player has to listen for a vowel after a consonant, and not a consonant. These cards can be easier to otetsuki on, if a player isn’t used to them. However, there aren’t many of them, so one could consider the pros/cons of targeting them when it could make focusing on the timing for a greater number of cards harder. On the flip side though, if most experienced players are aware that the timing is different and that they’re harder to take, than they can practice to take them anyway and gain an advantage by not simply focusing on the easiest cards to take.
Thus I think the most important thing is not what one decides to do, but just having the general awareness of the difference in timings so as to not otetsuki and to make an informed decision, whether in general as part of a playstyle or mid-game, e.g. deciding to take them because you’re having a harder time competing against a specific player on other cards, or deciding not to take them because you think your focus would be better targeted somewhere else.
As the game progresses, the smaller syllable groups tend to become bigger. This is well-known of course, but the numbers can help put this into perspective and serve as a reminder that adapting to the “updated” sounds to listen for is very important in the later game—especially in a close game, e.g. each card has 10 cards or less. This change should probably be anticipated earlier on based on how many cards there are in the larger groups. Most 3-syllable cards tend to turn into 2-syllables with a “1.5” timing, as do most of the longer cards (4-syllables or more), while 2-syllables tend to turn into 1-syllables.
Meanwhile, .5 timing cards are rare until the very end-game, with the exception of U, Ts, and Sh, which only take 1 tomofuda being read to become present. Meanwhile, there are 9 “M” cards, 8 “H” cards, 10 “Y” cards, and 13 “K” cards, so sounds like these take a long time to become a “half-syllable”. Of course, “A” with its 16 cards, “N” with its 8, “W” and “O” with their 7 cards also take time, and only “I” (3), “Ch” (3), and “T” (5) are somewhat quick. However, if there aren’t a lot of cards of a type on the field to start with, then it could be considered less likely that there is still a card in that group remaining on the field after all of its tomofuda have been read. At the same time, however, in a very late game, it’s unlikely that no cards become 1-syllable, because that would mean their tomofuda would have to be a karafuda read after the game, and there are usually only a handful of cards left, if that, near the end of a very close game (e.g. 3 cards or less on both sides).
In other words, although it can be very fun to take these cards super quickly, one may or may not conclude that they aren’t as valuable a target until very late into a game, because focusing on it locks you into a timing with few cards earlier on, and more to come. However, because cards need to be distinguished from their 1st sound in general, I don’t think it’s bad to be ready for them, as a fast reaction to the first half-syllable can also be used to help pay attention to a later syllable more clearly: for instance, hearing “m”, knowing it’s a “mi” card because the other possible “m” cards aren’t on the field, and then listening with more specific intent for the start of the 2nd syllable to help take a 1.5 timing “mi_” card could potentially help take it faster than some other method.
—
Until recently, I’ve been thinking of the “2-syllable” “o” cards and the shortened 2-syllable “a_” cards as… 2-syllables, but part of why I did this was feeling like maybe this was too simple a way of thinking about it.
It seems to be a common trend that taking the ‘o’ and ‘a’ cards consistently can be harder for less experienced players, while veterans can take them very effectively. It’s not like beginners are *always* poor at them, but rarely does it seem to be a consistent strength, unlike cards like the u tsu shi mo yu 2-syllable cards, or 1-syllable cards.
While part of this is likely just due to the number of these cards, I also think it has to do with them starting with vowels (which I of course sincerely doubt is a novel idea/thought/conclusion). And it’s not like I haven’t thought of them as unique/different before, but it’s only dawned on me recently that I should probably reconsider how I look at them as a whole: timing-wise, I think I should be listening for the ‘t’ in ‘oto’ around a similar time that I should be listening for the ‘e’ in “me”.
That is to say, while in Japanese “oto” is 2 different characters and “me” is 1 character, from the perspective of English, the actual sounds I’m distinguishing against are just a vowel and a consonant instead of a consonant and a vowel, and they’re both 2 “letters”, but more importantly 2 short phonetic sounds. Taking this approach, I think I can focus in on the distinguishing part of the fuda more quickly, and thus take the card more quickly, whereas it feels like unless I was targeting the cards, I would usually subconsciously wait for the complete 2nd-syllable (e.g. oto, ama) because I hadn’t fully reframed the cards as being like 1-syllable cards.
I think this could be considered even more notable for the ‘a’ cards, because they feel like they change from 2.5-syllable timing cards to 1-syllable timing cards, and if I just cut-off 1-syllable like normal then I would take half of them slower than I could. (Of course, for ake/aki and ari/ara I do have to wait a bit longer—at least until more tomofuda are read—but just having that timing difference in my mind should hopefully allow me to take the cards a little bit better.)
—
Beyond all this, there’s another element that can affect how I choose to focus on different timings, which is my ability to take cards before the kimariji. Knowing which cards I tend to take earlier and thinking about how that impacts my timing is really important, because I need to actually be *ready* to take them early if I’m going to, and in some cases, it might not be worth it to focus on taking a card a half-syllable earlier if it throws off my ability to take other cards.
Though on the other hand, if there are say, naturally quite a bit of 1-syllable cards, and I have some 1.5-syllable cards like shino/shira or chiha that I can take at a 1-syllable timing, then I can try to take them at the 1-syllable timing and make the feeling of the overall timings across the field easier for me. I can also consider for 2.5 timing cards that if I have a bunch of 2 timing cards, and I can take some 2.5’s at 2’s, then it might be worth it to try and do that so that I’m giving myself more incentive to pay attention to the 2-timing cards (which feel like more of an off-beat to me and by default are lower in number). This can allow me to not play into the natural ease of taking cards at the most easy/common timings, but while still giving me a solid number of potential cards to take at this timing.
Lastly for now, I should consider that since I ideally want to be able to take all cards, but I can’t, I should pay attention to multiple timings, but probably try not to focus on a bunch of timings that are a half-syllable apart. For instance, the .5, 1, and 1.5 syllable timings are so close that catching them all and still adapting to whatever is actually read might be very difficult. On the flip side, if I pay attention to only .5 and 1.5, I am giving myself a pause where, yes, I am gonna be slower on the 1 syllable timings, but I should be able to clearly catch the .5 and 1.5 timing cards—and maybe if there aren’t actually many 1-syllable timing cards on the field, or for some reason I don’t think they’re worth focusing (e.g. my opponent is likely to take them or I predict that they simply won’t be read next), then doing something like this can give me a better chance of actually taking a card.
Since 4.5 and 5.5 syllable cards are so far apart from when you can tell it’s an ooyamafuda, I should always be ready for them to some extent, meaning a good base choice might be: 1.5 timings, 2.5 timings, 3.5 timings, with an adjustment for the off-beats. I can also be ready for easy 1-syllable cards like sa/se/su where the ‘s’ half-syllable instantly gives away it’s a 1-syllable, and I don’t need to worry about an excess of potential options with different timings.
Overall, the goal should be to use my knowledge of the timings to A) be better ready to react to whatever I think would be beneficial for me to be ready for in general (depends on a ton of factors obviously), and B) train myself so that if I hear a certain 1st-syllable or half-syllable, I know what timing I need to listen to later on in that card’s reading so that I can take a card on the field quickly and without otetsuki’ing if it’s actually read.