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Karuta 2020 project

Karuta 2020 project is to help people globally learn, create and play a traditional Japanese card game, Karuta.

We offered three programmes: Karuta Workshop, Creative Karuta Award and Karuta Festival.

The project ended in June 2021 with over 5000 participants from 83 countries.

What’s karuta?

  • Karuta is a traditional Japanese card game around a theme.
  • We use text cards and matching picture cards to play karuta.
  • The above photo shows a set of karuta cards themed around various countries.

How to play Karuta

  1. Spread out the picture cards facing up on the mat, and the players sit around the cards.
  2. A card reader reads a clue aloud, and the players compete by touching the picture card that matches the clue.
  3. The player who touches the picture card first wins it.
  4. Read the next clue and continue playing.
  5. The winner is the player with the most picture cards at the end of the game.

Activities

Karuta Workshop

Hands-on workshops to help children to learn, create and play Karuta.

Creative Karuta Award

Drawing contest on the theme of various countries. The prize was printed karuta cards.

Karuta Festival

An annual event to showcase the latest karuta cards created worldwide

Original karuta cards

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Voices from winners

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Voices from Embassies

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Achievements

Teams

Honorary Chairman

Tammy Stewart-Jones

Tammy Is the mother of UK Karuta bringing Karuta to the UK through the ‘My Thanet’ Karuta joint project in 2012.

Kazutoshi Ogimoto, Director, Suginami Karuta Project
Mikiko Haraguchi, Vice Chairman, Japan Kyoudo Karuta Association
Mineo Kageya, Director, FROM JAPAN Institute
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