Prime Minister Hana Karuta Hanafuda Black

A replica of an original deck dating back to the Meiji era (1864-1912), that one century earlier had been commissioned to the same manufacturer by Itô Hirofumi (1841-1909), the first Japanese prime minister. He was a lover of figurative art of his own country, and had a particular interest for the typical flower card illustrations. During the 19th century, despite some graphic details were still partly subject to changes, the design of the local cards had gradually reached a certain stability, and its basic elements had become a standard: a crane on the first card of Pine, a nightingale on the same card of Plum, the curtain on Cherry, and so on, including the ones with red and blue ribbons. The edition that Hirofumi had made by Ôishi could be described today as "luxury". The maker kept one copy for himself, and from this specimen, in 1991, a faithful replica was obtained, also called Sôridaijin no Hana-karuta ("prime minister's flower cards"), in honour of the important client.