Card Game A: Cover of cardboard box has image of two children on front dressed in kimono and holding up their arms. The boy has brown hair and blue and white robe, brown hakama, and yellow geta. The girl has black hair, red,yellow, blue and pink kimono and red geta. Background has squares of pink, red, orange, blue and green. At the top is red kanji: Katsuo-chan and Wakame-chan Karuta (Bonito and Seaweed Card Game) B: Bottom of cardboard box side covered with white paper, has cardboard platform inset. C: 45 Picture cards and 45 written cards. Picture cards have multicolored scenes with Japanese character in circle in upper right corner. The written cards have black kanji written vertically and romanji written horizontally. the object is to match the written and picture cards. Each character represents a sound from old sayings, the first sound is written inside circle. Pictures are placed on the floor in front of players and one person reads old saying starting with the first sound. The children pick out of the pictures and the first character the matching card. Organized according to sound so children can learn to read the associated characters: 1) Vowels: ah, ee, oo, eh, oh; 2) k associated with vowel: kah, kee, koo, keh, koh; 3) s sounds; 4) t sounds; 5) n sounds; 6) h sounds; 7) m sounds; 8) y dipthong sounds (4 cards); 10) r sounds; 9) w sound (1 card), (no ng sounds) a) ah - an early rising household will have luck (early bird gets the worm) b) ee - when the dog walks around he may get hit by a stick (expect adverse happenings with adventure) c) oo - truth came from a lie (even when telling a lie the truth will be revealed) d) eh - hoist your sail in the bay [so you will be recognized by those on shore] (sailing under true colors) e) oh - the metal halberd goes with the ogre (things that go together, double the scaryness) f) kah - let him take a trip (if you love a child let him learn and experience on his own) g) kee - today is other's fate, but tomorrow may be mine (but for the grace of God go I) h) koo - something smelly, use a lid (hide unpleasantness) i) keh - fighting, both should be judged (it takes two to tango) j) koh - before you fall down, use a cane (be prepared and careful) k) sah - go around warning of fire and then sit and have a smoke (do your duty and then rest) l) see - if you don't know you are Buddha (what you don't know won't hurt you, ignorance is bliss) m) soo - what happened in the past (let bygones be bygones) n) seh - if you do things in a hurry you do bad work (haste makes waste) o) soh - the oldest is no good (because they are pampered they grow up to be useless) p) tah - when you are travelling you get acquainted with fellow travellers and society shows compassion (outside it is a cold world so treat others with compassion) q) tee - even if dust piles up it becomes a mountain (a little effort every day will show a good result) r) too - it is a bad thing when the cloud covers the moon and flowers are blown by the wind (bad things happen) s) teh - heaven knows and earth knows when you are doing something bad t) toh - bats are in the village without birds u) nah - crying face is stung by a bee (don't complain things will be worse) v) nee - the one who is hated takes over (only the good die young, the bad succeeds) w) noo - put a nail in the rice bran to keep the pickling mixture fresh (useless action) x) neh - caution on top of caution (measure twice, cut once) y) noh - the able falcon hides his sharp claw (the person who knows doesn't show off) z) hah - prefer sweet over the flower (choose the practical over the pretty) aa) hee - hundred sentences is not worth one look (a picture is worth a thousand words) ab) hoo - couple fighting is the seed of poverty (don't spend your energy on negative activity) ac) heh - person who is not talented practices anyway (don't bother if you don't have the talent) ad) hoh - don't use your energy where it is not worthwhile (don't flog a dead horse) ae) mah - sometimes you win by losing af) mee - last coming from your action (you cause your own predicament, sometimes you are your own worst enemy) ag) moo - the illogical makes sense when logic disappears (stand up for justice) ah) meh - you always notice the big bump above your eye (the annoying thing close to you is all you are aware of) ai) moh - in front of the temple gate kozo (lowest accolyte) reading scripture he hasn't learned (pretending to be somebody you are not) aj) yah - person who always buys cheap things loses money (penny wise, dollar foolish) ak) yoo - tortoise beats the rabbit (when you are overconfident you lose) al) yoh - you look at the ceiling from inside a hollow stem (can't see the forest for the trees) (can't see the whole picture because of concentrating on details) am) woh - you can't hit a dog when its wagging its tail (honey catches more flies than vinegar) an) rah - there are easy times and there are hard times ao) ree - rationalization and plaster will stick anywhere ap) roo - if you polish lapiz even a needle will shine (put in the effort and you will improve) aq) reh - good medicine is bitter to taste ar) roh - direct translation is proof more than argument (actions speak louder than words) as) wah - the lid to a cracked pot (the lid is useless after the pot is cracked) Condition: Box is split on both sides.

1996.010.390