In a quiet tatami room, warm lantern light gleams across a polished black lacquer table edged with painted gold clouds. A complete deck of traditional hanafuda unfolds the twelve months of the Japanese year—from January’s pine and crane to weeping plum blossoms in February, cherry curtains in spring, autumn maples, and December’s paulownia phoenix rising at year’s end. By the glow of the iron tea kettle, each lacquered card snaps cleanly onto the woven rush mat with crisp seasonal artistry.

Crisp woodblock contours preserve the poise of every flower and bird against the dark lacquered surface of the board. Plain kasu petals, crimson poetry and blue ribbons, lively animal seed cards, and gilded hikari light cards stand apart at a single glance, letting each freshly dealt hand reveal its seasonal harmony without a single repeated card on the table. From spring cherry blossoms to winter paulownia crests, the hand-painted deck turns every round in the parlor into a poetic duel.

Victory in hanafuda belongs to the poetic combinations formed across the board regardless of where each card sits. When red poetry ribbons or blue ribbons align, or when the chrysanthemum sake cup joins the cherry-blossom curtain or the full harvest moon, classic hands like Hanami-de-Ippai and Tsukimi-de-Ippai come to life across the black lacquer table at once. By the glow of the iron tea kettle, each lacquered card snaps cleanly onto the woven rush mat with crisp seasonal artistry.

When the autumn bush-clover boar, maple stag, and peony butterflies gather together in a deal, Ino-Shika-Cho leaps straight off the cards—the boar charging forward, the deer lifting its antlers, and twin butterflies spreading their wings in symmetry—while the crane, phoenix, and umbrella-bearing Rain Man each stage their own Light card vignettes. From spring cherry blossoms to winter paulownia crests, the hand-painted deck turns every round in the parlor into a poetic duel.

Should all five Light cards appear together in a single base deal, the quiet room echoes with the bold call of koi-koi and the multi-hand collection feature begins. Across a series of freshly shuffled deals, whenever enough cards from the same month land on the table together, those seasonal blooms are swept into your persistent collection tray. By the glow of the iron tea kettle, each lacquered card snaps cleanly onto the woven rush mat with crisp seasonal artistry.

Every time a new yaku family forms in the collection for the very first time, it pays its reward, grants extra collection deals, and doubles the multiplier for all subsequent hands in the round. Adding further cards to an existing yaku pays the newly earned difference in units, building quiet tension with each turn of the deck. From spring cherry blossoms to winter paulownia crests, the hand-painted deck turns every round in the parlor into a poetic duel.

The true drama of koi-koi lies in the rhythm of pressing onward as the collection fills month by month and the multiplier climbs step by step. Once the final ordinary collection deal concludes, the gathered cards step aside and the entire deck is reshuffled from scratch for one last, independent reveal on the table: the Five Lights seal. By the glow of the iron tea kettle, each lacquered card snaps cleanly onto the woven rush mat with crisp seasonal artistry.

Unbound by the collection that came before, this closing hand turns face up on the black lacquer table with a single purpose as the entire room holds its breath. If all five Light cards shine together in that final deal, the entire round ascends straight to its maximum crown, sealing the night’s game in golden light. From spring cherry blossoms to winter paulownia crests, the hand-painted deck turns every round in the parlor into a poetic duel.