Please join us Sunday, June 20 at 4pm as we present Japan House Shares KARUTA, the card game, with Assistant Director of Academic Programming, Lindsey Stirek.
Karuta refers to many different types of card games in Japanese culture, and uta-garuta refers specifically to card games dealing with poems. The karuta we will be featuring in this Japan House Shares is Ogura Hyakunin isshu uta-garuta.
Based on the collection “100 Poems by 100 Poets”, compiled by Fujiwara no Teika in the 13th century, these poems were written by different poets over several centuries and deal with a variety of topics such as love, loneliness, and nostalgia. The passion for this collection of poems has lasted hundreds of years, and prompted many responses, one of which is the game uta-garuta or poem karuta.
This type of karuta is often played at the New Year, and since the 1950’s, the national competitions held at this time have been a nationally televised event. You may have heard of karuta through the manga and anime Chihayafuru, which has become popular worldwide and helped popularize karuta among younger people.
Watch as Lindsey describes the game, including the rules, fouls, how to set up the playing field, and finally how to win. She will also introduce us to some phone apps and other methods of memorization in preparation of the game. After the introduction, Lindsey and her assistant will play a demo match.
Mesmerizing to watch and exciting to play, you won’t want to miss this unique Japan House Shares!
Watch the YouTube Premiere video with the Japan House Staff at 4pm where you can LIVE CHAT! Make sure you log in a few minutes early to see the countdown.
If you would like to watch the Japan House Shares videos at your leisure, they are available online indefinitely.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6qrhUy69w0M6UdEvx4amQBKT5JXEczwE
If you’ve enjoyed this event and would like to continue to support Japan House’s online programming, please consider donating: https://go.illinois.edu/give
