Nintendo Patriotic Cards from 1942 and 1943 (Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu / 愛國百人一首)

Nintendo has produced games since its inception in 1889 up to the present day, and we are used to associating them with leisure products that provide entertainment, some education, but mostly innocent excitement and fun. These products are typically devoid of religion, politics, or any belief system, which has contributed to Nintendo's eventual global appeal, crossing borders and cultures.

In today's post, we will take a look at a notable exception to this 'neutral' position: two games that played a role in Japanese government propaganda during the Second World War (1939-1945).

The expansionist policies and military actions of Japan in Asia and the Pacific started in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria, a region in northeastern China. This was followed by the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937), the Japanese occupation of French Indochina (1940), and the full outbreak of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific in December 1941 after the surprise attack by the Japanese on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

By December 1942, when the first of these games was published, Japan was a year into a broad and bloody world war affecting millions of people across a large area in Asia and the Pacific. Together with its Axis alliance partners, Germany and Italy, Japan was fighting the Allied forces comprising the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, China, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, India and others.

At this time, the general public back home in Japan was enduring significant hardships due to the ongoing war. The economy was under strain, resources were scarce, and daily life was marked by sacrifices and increased militarization. Although the realities of the war's demands and the early signs of Japan's strategic difficulties, including air raids over Japan, were beginning to affect the population's outlook and daily experienc, propaganda efforts maintained a degree of public morale and support.

In this context, Nintendo and other card manufacturers contributed to such propaganda efforts, either voluntarily or through governmental and societal pressure, by producing so-called Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu (愛國百人一首) games: "One Hundred Patriotic Poems by One Hundred Poets".

Two Nintendo Patriotic cards sets (left and middle) from 1942-'43
and a 1943 book (right) covering the 100 poems included in these games

The Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu game is similar to the well-known Japanese card game Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (小倉百人一首), often shortened to just Hyakunin Isshu, which translates to "One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets."

The difference between Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu and Ogura Hyakunin Isshu is the "patriotic" part.

The Ogura Hyukunin Isshu game is based on a 12th-century anthology of one hundred poems (by one hundred different poets), compiled by Fujiwara no Teika (藤原定家), covering a wide range of subjects and styles. This anthology was intended to be a masterclass in poetry in general.

On the other hand, the Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu consists of one hundred poems (again by one hundred poets) selected specifically to promote nationalism and patriotism in Japan; they were intended to foster a sense of national pride and loyalty to the emperor.

Nintendo Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu (愛國百人一首) card set from December 1942

Apparently, in 1942, the Japanese public was asked to submit candidates for the set of Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu poems, from which a committee of well-known literary scholars, including Nobutsuna Sasaki (佐佐木信綱), selected the final set of one hundred. These were sanctioned by the Japanese government, more specifically, the Information Bureau (情報局), which can be seen as a (war-time) Ministry of Information and Propaganda.

The poems deal with the following topics:

• Nationalism and Patriotism
• Loyalty to the Emperor
• Sacrifice and Duty
• Military Valor and Honor
• Unity and Collective Effort
• Resistance Against Western Influence
• Historical and Mythological References

It is important to note that these poems were not originally written with propaganda in mind, as they all predate the Japanese period of military expansionist ambition. It is the specific selection and combination of these poems, and the way they were positioned and used, that turned them into a tool for propaganda.

This list of one hundred poems was printed in Japanese newspapers, published in books, and used as the basis for the Aikoku Hyakunin Isshu card game produced (in different forms) by a number of different card manufacturers. Here we see the versions made by Nintendo.

Nintendo cards sets from the 1970s

The previous post featured a sales promotion leaflet for the Nintendo Paper Model series from the mid 1970s. Today we will take a look at an other leaflet from that same period, which I also acquired recently.

This one advertises various educational card series that Nintendo offered at the time. These cards focus on Japanese language, vocabulary and poetry, and they were used to play various games.

1970s Nintendo cards leaflet (front)

One side of the leaflet shows the range of so-called Iroha Karuta (いろはかるた), that are aimed at children and feature colourful drawings related to the topic (animals, vehicles, school etc).

A more extensive description of these cards and how they are used was given in this older post.

Two of the Iroha Karuta sets feature historic scenes from the former capital Kyoto (京 いろはかるた) as well as from ancient Tokyo, called Edo at the time (江戸 いろはかるた).

Edo and Kyoto Iroha Karuta sets

Moving to the back of the leaflet (or is this the front?), where a whole range of Hyakunin Isshu (百人一首) card sets is shown.

1970s Nintendo cards leaflet (back)

We haven't covered these cards on this blog yet, which is actually surprising, as they are an important early product of Nintendo, next to Hanafuda. Nintendo has been producing these (almost) from the start of the company, and still sells these to this day in Japan.

Hyakunin Isshu means '100 people, 1 poem [each]'. The game that is played with these cards, called Uta-garuta, is a one of the most well known traditional family games in Japan, that is also played at a more serious competitive level.

Similarly to the Iroha Karuta sets, the set contains matching pairs of cards. In this case, each pair contains a card with a strophe of a well known poem and a card with the first syllables of that strophe. 

During the game, the players have to recognise and grab the card with the full poem when the those first syllables are read out. It's a game that requires memorising skills, as well as fast reflexes.

A total of 100 card pairs is included in a Hyakunin Isshu set, by 100 different poets. Hence the name. An age-old standard set of 100 poems is used, called the Ogura set, named after the district in Kyoto where the scholar who compiled this set lived in the 12th century. The full name of these set is Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (小倉百人一首).

The table at the bottom of the leaflet shows the wide variety of sets offered. In the basis these are all the same, featuring the same set of poems. The difference lies in the quality of the material of the cards and the storage boxes. The prices go from ¥1.000 for the simplest sets up to ¥5.000 for sets that are more beautifully decorated and have cloth covered or hard plastic boxes.

For more on the Iroha Karuta cards, check out this earlier post.