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  • All Potential Kimariji (including Half-Syllables) Alternative Thinking Breakdown

    The point of this post is for me to break down what all the potential kimariji are for myself in an attempt to better internalize all the possibilities and the points at which I need to listen for the actual sound that distinguishes one card from another.

    While this is something I made for myself to help organize my thoughts and better understand changes in kimariji, the timings of taking them, etc., I am posting this publicly in case seeing my thought process might help someone. However, as I am not a very skilled player myself, please do be warned that these should be treated more like talking out loud and that it is not proper advice or anything.


    Notes:

    – Bolded letters are the actual character that should be listened for to differentiate the card from similar cards

    – Card names are written in romaji, and might not be accurate to how they are actually pronounced or written. This is intentional.

    – In general, this exercise is geared towards English-speaking people and thinkers. This means that from a more traditional/proper karuta experience or perspective, or a Japanese perspective, it will probably seem wrong or not make sense. Again, this is intentional, and the ideas in it represent an alternative (at least as far as I know) way of thinking.

    – The initial breakdown does not take into account cards that I can hear early, as not only does which cards a person can differentiate early differ from person to person, but hearing cards early in general may be inconsistent/unreliable at times.

    – How to define the ‘A’ cards with something subjective like this is very ambiguous. To me, it felt like if I treated shortened ‘A’ cards like 2-syllables, it’s harder to take them quickly; but if I treat them like 1-syllables where I’m listening for the first consonant after the ‘A’, then it’s easier to take them, because I’m focused on distinguishing at a better point. Thus, I have considered most of the shortened ‘A’ cards to be 1-1.5 syllables depending on how short they are. However, when the many 3-syllable ‘A’ cards are read, I find them easier to take at a normal “3-syllable” timing. I think this difference comes heavily down to the reader. If there is more of a “pause” after the 2nd syllable (e.g. Ama-tsu kaze), then it feels more like a 3-syllable (“2.5-syllable” because none of the ‘a’ cards come down to the vowel in the 3rd syllable) timing. If it’s more fluid and less enunciated, it’s closer to a 2-syllable timing. For this, I decided to consider them the former, but timings will always need to be adapted to different readers and such. Also, this general idea also applies to Imawa/Imako.

     

    Full Kimariji Breakdown:

    • M
      • Me
      • Mo
        • Moro
        • Momo
      • Mu
      • Mi
        • Miyo
        • Mise
        • Michi
        • Mika
          • Mikano
          • Mikaki
    • S
      • Sa
      • Se
      • Su
    • Fu
    • H
      • Ho
      • Hi
        • Hisa
        • Hito
          • Hitowa
          • Hitomo
      • Ha
        • Hana
          • Hanano
          • Hanasa
        • Haru
          • Haruno
          • Harusu
    • U
      • Ura
      • Uka
    • Ts
      • Tsuku
      • Tsuki
    • Sh
      • Shino
      • Shira
    • Y
      • Yu
        • Yura
        • Yuu
      • Ya
        • Yasu
        • Yae
        • Yama
          • Yamaza
          • Yamaga
      • Yo
        • Yomo
        • Yoo
        • Yono
          • Yononakawa
          • Yononakayo
    • I
      • Ini
      • Ima
        • Imawa
        • Imako
    • Ch
      • Chiha
      • Chigi
        • Chigirio
        • Chigiriki
    • K
      • Ki
        • Kiri
        • Kimi
          • Kimigatameha
          • Kimigatameo
      • Ka
        • Kasa
        • Kaku
        • Kaze
          • Kazeo
          • Kazeso
      • Ko
        • Koi
        • Kore
        • Kon
          • Kono
          • Konu
        • Koko
          • Kokoroni
          • Kokoroa
    • T
      • Tama
      • Tago
      • Tare
      • Tachi
      • Tak
        • Taki
        • Taka
    • O
      • Omo
      • Oto
      • Ogu
      • Oku
      • Oo
        • Ooe
        • Ook
          • Ooko
          • Ooke
    • W
      • Wabi
      • Waga
        • Wagai
        • Wagaso
      • Wasu
        • Wasure
        • Wasura
      • Wata
        • Watanoharako
        • Watanoharaya
    • N
      • Natsu
      • Nag
        • Naga
          • Nagara
          • Nagaka
        • Nage
          • Nageki
          • Nageke
      • Nani
        • Nanishi
        • Naniwa
          • Naniwaga
          • Naniwae
    • A
      • Ai
      • Ashi
      • Ak
        • Ake
        • Aki
          • Akino
          • Akika
      • Ama
        • Amano
        • Amatsu
      • Awa
        • Aware
        • Awaji
      • Ar
        • Ari
          • Arima
          • Aria
        • Ara
          • Araza
          • Arashi
      • Asa
        • Asaji
        • Asabo
          • Asaborakea
          • Asaborakeu

    With the potential changes broken down to half-characters, let’s now look at how many of each type there are.

    .5 Syllable Timing Sounds:

    M S F H U Ts Sh Y I Ch K T O W N A

    Count: 1 by default, 16 total

    1 Syllable Timing Sounds:

    Me Mo Mu Mi Sa Se Su Ho Hi Ha Ur Uk Yu Ya Yo In Im Ki Ka Ko Om Ot Og Ok Oo Ai Ash Ak Am Aw Ar As

    14 by default, 32 total

    1.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:

    Mor Mom Miy Mis Mich Mik His Hit Han Har Han Shin Shir Yur Yuu Yas Yae Yam Yom Yoo Yon Chih Chig Kir Kim Kas Kak Kaz Koi Kor Kon Kok Tam Tag Tar Tach Tak Wab Wag Was Wat Nats Nag Nan Ake Aki Ari Ara

    27 by default, 48 total

    2 Syllable Timing Sounds:

    Tsuku Tsuki Kono Konu Taki Taka Ooe* Ook* Naga Nage

    7 by default, 10 total

    *The way I hear “oo” usually read, I think the deciding sound is at a timing closer to a 2-syllable timing than a 1.5 syllable timing, so I put them here instead.

    2.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:

    Mikan Mikak Hitow Hitom Hanan Hanas Harun Harus Yamaz Yamag Imaw Imak Kazeo Kazes Ooko Ooke Wagai Wagas Nagar Nagak Nanish Naniw Akin Akik Aman Amats Awar Awaj Arim Aria Araz Arash Asaj Asab

    31 by default, 34 total

    3 Syllable Timing Sounds:

    Wasure Wasura Nageki Nageke

    4 by default, 4 total

    3.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:

    Chigirio Chigirik Kokoron Kokoroa Naniwag Naniwae

    6 by default, 6 total

    4.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:

    Yononakaw Yononakay

    2 by default, 2 total

    5.5 Syllable Timing Sounds:

    Kimigatameh Kimigatameo Watanoharak Watanoharay Asaborakea Asaborakeu

    6 by default, 6 total

    Total possible sounds by which to take cards: 158

     

    Analysis, Possible Conclusions, Reflection, etc.:

    Since 1 and 1.5 syllable timing sounds combine for 80/158 possible sounds, focusing on them could be very effective. The next biggest group is the 2.5 syllable group. However, this group is unlikely to grow in size much, and about half the potential cards in it will turn into shorter syllables once their tomofuda is taken, whereas more of the cards in the 1.5 syllable group will keep their timing even when a tomofuda is taken because they have multiple tomofuda, such as the “mi”, “ta”, and “ko” cards. Also, sometimes multiple cards can be taken based on the same sound and timing on a single side, e.g. if watanoharako and watanoharaya are on the same side they can both be taken at “wat(a)”. If one of these cards is read/taken, the other one can still be taken in basically the same way (with some exceptions, such as if they are split and a player is waiting instead of trying to take both via watarite), which can give certain timings and kimariji a sense of “extra value”. This is in part because the players won’t need to adapt the timing or sound that they are anticipating in order to take one card after its tomofuda has been read, whereas in other cases one card of a pair being read changes the kimariji of its tomofuda.

    Based on the default amounts of each group of sounds/timings, this definitely means that, from a statistical standpoint, and given an even distribution of cards, it could be considered more worthwhile to focus on the 1.5-syllable and 2.5-syllable timings at the beginning of the game. This is simply because it’s more likely there are cards of these timings on the field. Of course, the actual distribution of cards in a game can vary, however, so it could also be worthwhile to check what are the actual timings of the cards on the field. Furthermore, if certain tomofuda are on the same side, it could actually shorten the kimariji before any of the cards are read, or a card could actually have its kimariji timing “increase” (be later) if sending it would “undo” the shortening, so to speak.

    In particular, the “2 Syllable” and “3 Syllable” timing sounds are like “off-beat” cards, where for most of them, the player has to listen for a vowel after a consonant, and not a consonant. These cards can be easier to otetsuki on, if a player isn’t used to them. However, there aren’t many of them, so one could consider the pros/cons of targeting them when it could make focusing on the timing for a greater number of cards harder. On the flip side though, if most experienced players are aware that the timing is different and that they’re harder to take, than they can practice to take them anyway and gain an advantage by not simply focusing on the easiest cards to take.

    Thus I think the most important thing is not what one decides to do, but just having the general awareness of the difference in timings so as to not otetsuki and to make an informed decision, whether in general as part of a playstyle or mid-game, e.g. deciding to take them because you’re having a harder time competing against a specific player on other cards, or deciding not to take them because you think your focus would be better targeted somewhere else.

    As the game progresses, the smaller syllable groups tend to become bigger. This is well-known of course, but the numbers can help put this into perspective and serve as a reminder that adapting to the “updated” sounds to listen for is very important in the later game—especially in a close game, e.g. each card has 10 cards or less. This change should probably be anticipated earlier on based on how many cards there are in the larger groups. Most 3-syllable cards tend to turn into 2-syllables with a “1.5” timing, as do most of the longer cards (4-syllables or more), while 2-syllables tend to turn into 1-syllables.

    Meanwhile, .5 timing cards are rare until the very end-game, with the exception of U, Ts, and Sh, which only take 1 tomofuda being read to become present. Meanwhile, there are 9 “M” cards, 8 “H” cards, 10 “Y” cards, and 13 “K” cards, so sounds like these take a long time to become a “half-syllable”. Of course, “A” with its 16 cards, “N” with its 8, “W” and “O” with their 7 cards also take time, and only “I” (3), “Ch” (3), and “T” (5) are somewhat quick. However, if there aren’t a lot of cards of a type on the field to start with, then it could be considered less likely that there is still a card in that group remaining on the field after all of its tomofuda have been read. At the same time, however, in a very late game, it’s unlikely that no cards become 1-syllable, because that would mean their tomofuda would have to be a karafuda read after the game, and there are usually only a handful of cards left, if that, near the end of a very close game (e.g. 3 cards or less on both sides).

    In other words, although it can be very fun to take these cards super quickly, one may or may not conclude that they aren’t as valuable a target until very late into a game, because focusing on it locks you into a timing with few cards earlier on, and more to come. However, because cards need to be distinguished from their 1st sound in general, I don’t think it’s bad to be ready for them, as a fast reaction to the first half-syllable can also be used to help pay attention to a later syllable more clearly: for instance, hearing “m”, knowing it’s a “mi” card because the other possible “m” cards aren’t on the field, and then listening with more specific intent for the start of the 2nd syllable to help take a 1.5 timing “mi_” card could potentially help take it faster than some other method.

    —

    Until recently, I’ve been thinking of the “2-syllable” “o” cards and the shortened 2-syllable “a_” cards as… 2-syllables, but part of why I did this was feeling like maybe this was too simple a way of thinking about it.

    It seems to be a common trend that taking the ‘o’ and ‘a’ cards consistently can be harder for less experienced players, while veterans can take them very effectively. It’s not like beginners are *always* poor at them, but rarely does it seem to be a consistent strength, unlike cards like the u tsu shi mo yu 2-syllable cards, or 1-syllable cards.

    While part of this is likely just due to the number of these cards, I also think it has to do with them starting with vowels (which I of course sincerely doubt is a novel idea/thought/conclusion). And it’s not like I haven’t thought of them as unique/different before, but it’s only dawned on me recently that I should probably reconsider how I look at them as a whole: timing-wise, I think I should be listening for the ‘t’ in ‘oto’ around a  similar time that I should be listening for the ‘e’ in “me”.

    That is to say, while in Japanese “oto” is 2 different characters and “me” is 1 character, from the perspective of English, the actual sounds I’m distinguishing against are just a vowel and a consonant instead of a consonant and a vowel, and they’re both 2 “letters”, but more importantly 2 short phonetic sounds. Taking this approach, I think I can focus in on the distinguishing part of the fuda more quickly, and thus take the card more quickly, whereas it feels like unless I was targeting the cards, I would usually subconsciously wait for the complete 2nd-syllable (e.g. oto, ama) because I hadn’t fully reframed the cards as being like 1-syllable cards.

    I think this could be considered even more notable for the ‘a’ cards, because they feel like they change from 2.5-syllable timing cards to 1-syllable timing cards, and if I just cut-off 1-syllable like normal then I would take half of them slower than I could. (Of course, for ake/aki and ari/ara I do have to wait a bit longer—at least until more tomofuda are read—but just having that timing difference in my mind should hopefully allow me to take the cards a little bit better.)

    —

    Beyond all this, there’s another element that can affect how I choose to focus on different timings, which is my ability to take cards before the kimariji. Knowing which cards I tend to take earlier and thinking about how that impacts my timing is really important, because I need to actually be *ready* to take them early if I’m going to, and in some cases, it might not be worth it to focus on taking a card a half-syllable earlier if it throws off my ability to take other cards.

    Though on the other hand, if there are say, naturally quite a bit of 1-syllable cards, and I have some 1.5-syllable cards like shino/shira or chiha that I can take at a 1-syllable timing, then I can try to take them at the 1-syllable timing and make the feeling of the overall timings across the field easier for me. I can also consider for 2.5 timing cards that if I have a bunch of 2 timing cards, and I can take some 2.5’s at 2’s, then it might be worth it to try and do that so that I’m giving myself more incentive to pay attention to the 2-timing cards (which feel like more of an off-beat to me and by default are lower in number). This can allow me to not play into the natural ease of taking cards at the most easy/common timings, but while still giving me a solid number of potential cards to take at this timing.

    Lastly for now, I should consider that since I ideally want to be able to take all cards, but I can’t, I should pay attention to multiple timings, but probably try not to focus on a bunch of timings that are a half-syllable apart. For instance, the .5, 1, and 1.5 syllable timings are so close that catching them all and still adapting to whatever is actually read might be very difficult. On the flip side, if I pay attention to only .5 and 1.5, I am giving myself a pause where, yes, I am gonna be slower on the 1 syllable timings, but I should be able to clearly catch the .5 and 1.5 timing cards—and maybe if there aren’t actually many 1-syllable timing cards on the field, or for some reason I don’t think they’re worth focusing (e.g. my opponent is likely to take them or I predict that they simply won’t be read next), then doing something like this can give me a better chance of actually taking a card.

    Since 4.5 and 5.5 syllable cards are so far apart from when you can tell it’s an ooyamafuda, I should always be ready for them to some extent, meaning a good base choice might be: 1.5 timings, 2.5 timings, 3.5 timings, with an adjustment for the off-beats. I can also be ready for easy 1-syllable cards like sa/se/su where the ‘s’ half-syllable instantly gives away it’s a 1-syllable, and I don’t need to worry about an excess of potential options with different timings.

    Overall, the goal should be to use my knowledge of the timings to A) be better ready to react to whatever I think would be beneficial for me to be ready for in general (depends on a ton of factors obviously), and B) train myself so that if I hear a certain 1st-syllable or half-syllable, I know what timing I need to listen to later on in that card’s reading so that I can take a card on the field quickly and without otetsuki’ing if it’s actually read.

  • Potential Reasons to Send a Card

    Here’s a list of potential reasons you may want to send a specific card to the opponent! (Written by me, but inspired by a message on the Discord server.)

    Note: These are NOT necessarily recommendations—as always, please consider the merits of each before using them. I’ve written some personal thoughts on each below them as well, to help gauge them. Generally speaking, offensive karuta is favored by most experienced players, so offensive-minded card-sending will be favored.

    Offensive-minded card-sending:

    • You are very good at a card and want to attack it so you can send another card
      • Allows you to continue attacking and snowball. Well-favored.
    • Your opponent is very good at a card and you want to make your defense easier, make them feel pressured to defend it, or deal mental damage by taking it despite the fact that they are good at it
      • Can also be partially defensive as stated, depending on your intentions. Requires knowledge or a guess on your opponent.
    • Your opponent isn’t very good at a card and you want to make them feel pressured to defend it, or just give yourself a good opportunity at taking the card.
      • Again, requires knowledge on your opponent, or a guess (e.g. if they seem weak at other cards with the same kimariji).
    • To split tomofuda
      • Fairly common/well-favored; helps keep kimariji longer.
    • To apply pressure based on the likely row placement of the card. (Means you have to predict where said card will go, e.g. to a row that already has a lot of cards, and be confident that sending it will make them uncomfortable.)
      • A brainier offensive-minded play. Can potentially be subverted by the opponent’s defense

     

    Defensive-minded card-sending:

    • You aren’t good at a card and want to “give it up” (instead of losing it on your side and being sent yet another card you might not want)
      • Uncommon/not favored because you aren’t giving yourself strong chances to attack and finish a game, and are avoiding your weakness instead of improving on it.
    • To group up tomofuda
      • Less common/favored; can make kimariji shorter. Whether it makes it easier for you to attack it or easier for them to defend it depends on a number of factors.
    • To make your own placement less “cluttered” or imbalanced, e.g. because you have too many of a specific kind of card.
      • May be a legitimate way to deal with poor luck, but may also be the result of an inherent issue/weakness in one’s teiichi, or a countermeasure to your opponent having sent you cards to purposely cause an imbalance.
    • To decrease the opponent’s attention on your side of the field by sending a card they are either targeting or likely to target soon.
      • I regard this as a more instinctive and defensive-minded play, but don’t know how good of an idea it is generally regarded as.

     

    Other reasons to send cards:

    • It’s hard to take a card on your side specifically without moving it to an uncomfortable position, so you feel it’d be easier to take on the opponent’s side.
      • Kind of a mix of offense/defense logic in my opinion.
    • To add diversity to the kimariji length of your opponents’ field (e.g. sending a longer syllable card to the opponent when they don’t have any)
      • Not sure about this, but I’d guess it’s uncommon.
    • To confuse their memorization, e.g. sending a card that was just moved, or had been sent to you earlier.
      • However, this is obviously risky and can of course backfire by confusing your own memorization, and so I think it is somewhat less favored (but still happens).
    • To prepare for a late-game situation, e.g. sending cards that are likely to have multiple syllables even as the total card count is less than 10, or even to prepare for an unmei-sen.
      • This is something I do, but I don’t know how common or favored it is; it seems like there are a bunch of different ideas on how to play the late-game, and it’s very situational/context-dependent.

     

    Hope this helps!

  • Karuta Practice – Movement

    From the Discord server, shared by “debugChicken”.

    Running time: 60 minutes

    0) Draw 50 cards at random
    1) Place the opponent’s 25 cards randomly
    2) Place your 25 cards according to your placement
    3) Find 3 card families that have an interesting disposition, mainly with cards present in both fields, define movement

    Repeat step 4 for the 3 card Families:

    4.1) Create a set (in wasuramoti) with all the cards of a family that are in play, and practice the move knowing exactly which card will come out (musume order)
    4.2) Now, use shuffle order, practice
    4.3) Add all karafudas of the same family to the set (if any, otherwise skip step or add similar sounding cards from other families), practice
    4.4) Add 1 to 3 karafudas from other families to the set, practice

    5.1) Create a set with cards from three families that are in play, practice
    5.2) Add to the set all the karafudas of the three families (if any, otherwise skip step), practice
    5.3) Add 3 to 5 karafudas from other families to the set, practice

  • Karuta Practice – “Fudawake”

    Shared by Alaric from the Discord server. See also: https://akitakonohana.wixsite.com/karuta/kisoren/

    In short, the goal of fudawake is instead of just saying the kimariji of cards like fudanagashi, you separate each card by their first hiragana into different piles as fast as you can. A good goal might be trying to finish in 1 minute and 40 seconds, but apparently players that are very experienced can do it in around 45 seconds.

  • Memorization Method Discussion

    Here’s one way of going about memorizing, shared by Alaric from the Discord server! (Slightly edited for typos/grammar)
    1.) Memorize my side as best I can while I place it
    2.) Confirm opponents cards
    3.) Review all cards in musumefusahose order from A cards going down
    4.) Get up, wait 30s-1min recreate placement in my head as best possible
    5.) Sit back down and confirm cards I forgot/etc.
    6.) Go through musumefusahose order again, this time purely moving my eyes to location of the card
    7.) Confirm tomofuda and cards to target on opponents side
    8.) Swing 2x each migigedan/hidarigedan my side/opponent side
    9.) Chill and check cards until time is up
    In that time I also mentally check off what isn’t there so I don’t waste energy swinging for an い card when there are none for example

    The most important thing (imo) to learn how to do is to memorize your placement as best you can as you place it so you spend minimal mental load during memorization time

    It’s a bit more important for semegaruta players I guess and since that’s the style I play I value (and practice) that skill alot

    There’s also some commentary on it here, which requires being a member of the Discord server to view.

     

     

  • Simple Randomized Teiichi Maker

    http://www.kakyo-karuta.com/cgi-bin/teiichimaker/

    Please note that it’s in Japanese.

    Thanks to Syphus for sharing the link.

  • Karuta App Training

    While the Competitive Karuta ONLINE app is far from a substitute for actual karuta, I personally feel it can still be useful as practice if used in the right way. For that, here are some tips/guidelines on how it can and can’t be useful:

    CPU Games: Aside from being a tool to initially learn karuta without the stress of having an experienced player simply take cards from you before you have a chance, the hard level CPU is actually quite fast and can be used to practice playing under pressure. As it consistently takes cards quickly and does not make fouls/otetsuki, it may be considered a decent benchmark for your ability to memorize and hear cards. You can also adjust the game values so that the opponent has less cards or you have more, if you want an extra challenge.

    However, the app is not useful at all in the physical/motion-based aspects of the game, so it’s important to not fuss too much over trying to swipe or tap with your finger quickly compared to the other aspects of the game that you can practice:

    • memorizing quickly and effectively
    • strengthening your mental stability when a card is taken from you or you are notably behind*
    • focusing and listening to the poems as closely as possible
    • taking cards in the “end-game” quickly, e.g. by doing small, quick games of 4v4

    *As a personal anecdote of sorts, the CPU would often crush me and I would grow very frustrated when it did, especially since it would often be because I thought I touched a card but missed, or it “stole” the card in the moment it was being sent out of the playing field, but the good thing is that you can always rematch the CPU, so that energy you might have spent being upset vs. a human player can simply be redirected into trying again and seeing what you can improve on.

    The Flashcards Mini-game: Please see this post for how to use the app to help practice recognizing poems quicker

    Branching Paths Mini-game: Although this mini-game takes some of the game’s currency system (“points”, I believe, which you can purchase for a cheap price) to unlock, it is a very good mini-game in my opinion. It allows you to practice taking cards in a sudden-death-like showdown (though sometimes with 3 cards), forcing you to distinguish between the unique syllables of friend cards as quickly as possible.

    In doing so, you can practice cards of certain syllable lengths to get better at them, become more familiar with the poems, and measure just how quickly you can recognize cards when there are only 2-3 cards on the field (almost no memorization). In other words, if you feel that your hearing needs work or that you make a lot of fouls, practicing in this mode may help you.

    Online Practice: Though online practice can be scary and nerve-wracking—especially with strangers—it is always good to get used to playing against other people, who will be much less predictable than the CPU. Apparently the best time to find ranked matches is at night time in Japan’s timezone, but you can also join the Online Karuta Practice group (see Other Resources) and practice with the players there if you are interested.

    Overall Practice Idea: In the end, I feel that the most important part of practicing is to implement spaced repetition—do a little bit of practice ever day, or at least a few times a week, and don’t stress out over trying to get better quickly, but still make an effort to improve when you do play. If you do this, the poems should become more familiar, it should be easier to hear them, and hopefully your confidence will also increase, and you can transfer that sense of hearing, mentality, and the common elements of strategy between the simple app version of the game and the real thing, so that you can make the most out of what may be fairly limited opportunities to play vs. real people.

  • Listening Training

    One way to “train” yourself is to practice listening to the poems without actually playing. This can give various benefits:

    • becoming more familiar with the sounds of the poems
    • better focusing and calming the mind
    • being able to pay more attention to the rhythm, especially as one poem ends and a new one is about to read
    • being able to easier recall whether a poem has been read (i.e. especially if you recognize more than just the beginning of a poem)

    As usual, the apps in Other Resources or the videos on the Practice Videos page can help with this. You can even try keeping track of which poems have been read and taking note when a card’s kimariji changes, and this all can be done while doing something else like going on a walk.

  • Solo Practice

    Though it may not be nearly as fun as playing with someone else—or ideal—”solo practice”, i.e. having a practice match with oneself, can be used to improve memorization, visualization, technique, and more.

    Laying out the cards:

    • Though you can of course place the opponent’s cards based on your own layout, it may be more helpful to randomly place them from one corner to the other, so you are forced to memorize uncomfortable and unfamiliar card placements
    • When doing so, it may also be helpful to distribute cards such that there are more cards on the bottom row than the middle row, more cards in the middle row than the top row, and perhaps slightly more cards on the side of the dominant hand, as many (if not most) players will distribute their cards as such

    Practice styles:

    • Since there is no opponent to take cards from you, there are two ways to go about the match: 1 is to simply remove any taken card from the field, which does not practice the dynamic of sending or receiving cards, committing fouls, etc., and is less recommended
    • The other method is to only “win” cards that you feel you took quickly and decisively, and that you likely would have gotten vs. a similarly skilled player. For instance, if you move directly to a card or feel that you heard or reacted to it quickly, you can consider it a “take”, but if you are slow to react, “whiff” the take, defend one of a pair of friend cards but are late to attack the other card when it is read, or commit a foul on one side before taking the card on another, these may be criteria to consider it the “opponent’s take”.
    • Essentially, if you felt it was a fast or clean take, consider it yours, and if not, consider it the opponent’s.
    • In the latter practice style, you should try to think about what cards you are sending or an opponent might send to help practice the flow of a real game.

    Essentially, one style is to simply focus on hearing, motion, and reacting, while the other more closely emulates a real game, but either way it is basically just “ghost play”, so it is only as useful as your dedication and determination to make the most out of it.

    For audio to practice with, please check the apps under Other Resources or the Practice Videos page.

    Lastly, note that you do not have to practice with 25 cards (e.g. if you do not have the time or energy), and it is okay to practice with a smaller amount of cards, esp. if they include focused subsets of cards (e.g. “o” cards, 3 and 4-syllable cards—whatever you want to work on).

  • “Fast” and “Careful” Karuta

    Karuta that is called “fast” often refers to karuta that involves attempting to take every card as quickly as possible. Of course, all of competitive karuta is, in a sense, about taking cards quickly, but in reality, one only needs to be faster than their opponent more times than their opponent is faster than them: there is no “bonus” for being “extra fast”.

    To contrast “fast” karuta with other karuta, take the following example: one player is very good at 1-syllable and some 2-syllable cards, and tends to target them frequently. They will often start their movement very quickly, but are more likely to make a foul/otetsuki, and may struggle to quickly shift from one card to its friend card somewhere else.

    This player may look like they play a “fast” karuta style, as when they do take cards successfully, it can be extremely fast and even flashy.

    However, a more “careful” player may be more consistent in their speed and accuracy, or more adept at taking longer syllable cards, e.g. by defending/covering cards before the kimariji is read or employing strategies where their initial reaction does not appear to be “fast”, but they ultimately take the card first.

    Their reaction speeds to lower-syllable cards and physical motions may not be the fastest, but they can make up for it through elements like being more ready for longer-syllable cards, being ready to take cards that the opponent is not targeting (consistency in speed over quick bursts of speed), not making as many fouls (which have a big impact on card differential), having better technique when taking cards (e.g. navigating to/touching a card directly instead of sweeping a row indiscriminately), or using certain strategies to gain some kind of advantage.

    In Chihayafuru, it can be said that at first, Chihaya is more of a “fast” karuta player and Taichi is more of a “careful” one. In fact, part of Chihaya’s growth in the show involves learning to become more careful so that she commits less fouls and excels at more than just lower-syllable cards, as it does not seem to be enough to be simply fast or careful if one wants to do well at the higher levels of karuta.

    To take cards quickly (ala “fast” karuta), one can employ various methods of targeting specific cards:

    • based on location (top row, an area with more cards, an area you feel a card is going to be read from)
    • based on the length of the kimariji (1-syllable, 2-syllable, etc.)
    • based on one’s ability to differentiate a card’s kimariji quickly

    One can also guess cards before they recognize the kimariji, though this isn’t usually recommended due to the potential to backfire through fouls.

    A player who does not rely on being fast may be less likely to target cards, or may attempt to target ones different than a player that they feel is faster than them, as even a player not known for their speed can often take a card they are targeting faster than someone who is known for their speed but is not targeting a card.

    As said, in the end karuta in general is of course about being fast, but the difference in appearance is that if one player just barely takes 10 cards while another quickly takes 7 cards but makes 2 fouls, the one who takes 10 is ahead even if their maximum speed (or average speed of their takes) is slower than the “fast” karuta player who quickly took 7 (while also suffering from fouls).

    Of course, there is no reason to limit oneself to only one “style” of play, and one can be both careful and fast, or switch between the two based on their opponent, assessment of risk, or how far the game has progressed—in a game with many long-syllable cards and friend cards, it may be better to be careful, but in a game with many low-syllable cards, it may be better to prioritize speed instead. What’s optimal should be judged for yourself based on your studies, practice, and what players with more experience than you advise.