Japanese Tattoo Hanafuda Cards

Kevin1992 · 7 Jun 2015

Dear forummers,

I came from a very bad background and have worked my way up to a succesfull life now. I will spare you the details but would love to have a tattoo of the 3 Hanafuda card combination 8-9-3. Also known as Yakuza AKA losing hand. But I dont want a mistake on my body or for the tattoo not to be correct. Can any of you show me the right combination (s) of cards?

I have talked to about 10 tattoo shops including 2 with a Japanese owner but none can guarantee if this is 100% correct. And on the internet i see too many different combo's with 0 explanation. Kindly looking forward to your responses!

Kevin1992 · 7 Jun 2015

I understand normally the card deck of kabu-fuda is used. But according to wikipedia it can also be played with Hanafuda cards if one would take out the last 2 months of the deck.

Since hanafuda cards imo look alot more beautifull for a tattoo then kabu-fuda cards I would prefer an explanation with hana-fuda cards.

Anyone help please?

WonkoTheSane · 7 Jun 2015

Keep the time in mind. It's only 8:20 AM on a Sunday here in Japan, most people probably haven't seen your posts since the first one was about 1 AM and the next was about 7 hours later.

Kevin1992 · 7 Jun 2015

ah i see. Thanks for your reply

Toritoribe · 7 Jun 2015

Each flowers/plants represent months of year in Hanafuda (e.g. pine is January, plum is February), and each months is called "number + moon/month" in Japanese (e.g. January is "1 + moon/month", February is "2 + moon/month"). August(= 8), September(= 9) and March(= 3) are Susuki grass/Pampas, kiku/chrysanthemum and sakura/cherry blossom, respectively, so what you are looking for is as follows.

By the way, if you choose the three cards of The Moon, Sake Cup and Sakura Curtain (the left end card of each month), they refer to yaku Tsukimi-zake and Hanami-zake in a popular game Koi-Koi. Thus, when I see those cards as a tattoo, I would think "Oh, 10 points!" rather than "8, 9, and 3".
Koi-Koi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kevin1992 · 7 Jun 2015

Thankyou for your extensive reply. So i understand correctly that any of the 3 lines can be mixed? So, per example, I can pick card 2 off line number 1, card 3 off line number 2, and card 4 off line number 3? And still have the correct meaning of 8,9,3? If that makes sense.... And thanks for the tip on tsukimi-zake/hanami-zake. I dont want people to think '10 points' lol!

Majestic · 7 Jun 2015

Kevin1992 said:
I dont want people to think '10 points' lol!

I think you are safe. I don't think anyone outside of Japan will get the reference. Even in Japan it will be an obscure tattoo. I mean, most people have heard where the word yakuza originated from, but the visual connection with the actual card hand of 8-9-3 will be pretty thin. Its not a common image here in Japan.
And, as you probably know, tattoos are still somewhat looked down upon here in Japan. Many (if not most) public baths and onsens prohibit entry to people with tattoos. Something to think about if you are considering travelling or living in Japan.
Here is an image of the hand I found on the web. Looks like they are using the first (highest) card of each series.

Kevin1992 · 8 Jun 2015

Thankyou for your reply. Im happy to see not alot of people know the connection between the cards. Its the 'getting dealt a lost hand' part that speaks to me. I have no intention to associate myself with Yakuza or gang tattoo's. Is there any Japanese institution that can back up the meaning of the cards, like a double-check/Second opinion? Im really afraid to get a tattoo of something and find out 10 years later its meaningless lol.

Toritoribe · 8 Jun 2015

Actually, hanafuda cards are not consciously connected to months of year, since it's rather important for playing the game to know, e.g., The Moon and Sakura Curtain are 20 points cards, Sakura Poetry Ribbon is one of Akatan or Chrysanthemum Blue Ribbon is one of Aotan. Thus, even if you choose another set of cards from each month, it would be considered just a valueless set of cards than 8-9-3.

WonkoTheSane · 8 Jun 2015

Kevin1992 said:
I have no intention to associate myself with Yakuza or gang tattoo's.

Then why are you asking for help getting a tattoo you're specifically stating is based around such things?

Im really afraid to get a tattoo of something and find out 10 years later its meaningless lol.

Then get something in a language and culture you understand.

When I was your age I had a ton of bad ideas for tattoos... Now I thank my incredible laziness that I don't have tattoos all over my face and hands. A truism in life is that impermanent actions cause impermanent regrets, but permanent actions cause permanent regrets.

nekojita · 8 Jun 2015

You could always get snake eyes (the dice throw, not the animal).

But if it means something to you does it matter if nobody else "gets" it? You could have 9-8-5 (blackjack reference) in western playing cards and not everyone would get it automatically. Even more so if you went for a baccarat reference (which you should, because Bond).

nice gaijin · 9 Jun 2015

Dead man's hand - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kevin1992 · 9 Jun 2015

Once again, thankyou for your replies. Putting personal ideas on a forum will always result in them being judged, but taste is something personal. Snake eyes or normal cards dont look appealing to me. I consider tattoos art and art is always something that one person may find ugly while the other considers it to be beautiful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Thankyou for your input but this is what I want.

I love the look of the Hanafuda cards and the fact of getting dealt a hand in which one is almost certain to lose says exactly what I want the tattoo to say. I'm pretty much already one foot in the door of the tattoo shop, i am merely asking if my 2nd step is in the right place. I hope this makes sense.

@Toritoribe So the number/count of the cards depend on the combination with eachother? Combining others would result in count 0? Or am I misunderstanding? Thanks in advance for your time

nice gaijin · 9 Jun 2015

you're free to tattoo whatever you want on your body, and we applaud you for at least wanting your cultural appropriation to be technically accurate

Toritoribe · 9 Jun 2015

Kevin1992 said:
@Toritoribe So the number/count of the cards depend on the combination with eachother? Combining others would result in count 0? Or am I misunderstanding? Thanks in advance for your time

Even though each flower/plant represents months of year, and each month of year represents the number 1~12, each flower/plant doesn't directly represent the number 1~12. It's possible to represent 8 points, 9points and 3 points by yaku/special combinations of cards in Koi-Koi, you need at least 18 cards for that.

Japanese Tattoo Hanafuda Cards

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