Competitive Karuta - Kyogi Karuta

This is a competition in which players compete to see who can take the cards quickly using the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, a type of singing garuta. There are individual and team competitions, and the format of the team competition varies depending on the tournament. Each player takes 25 cards from 100 cards that are turned face down, and arranges the cards in three rows in front of their own side, and has to memorize the arrangement of the cards as best they can in 15 minutes (50 of the 100 cards will be blank cards (karafuda) that do not exist when they are read). After that, players listen to the first line of the poem read by the reader, and compete to instantly identify and take the card with the second line of the poem written on it from among the total of 50 cards lined up in their own or opponent's side. If a player takes a card from their own side, they lose one card, and if they take a card from the opponent's side, they can pass it to the opponent's side as a "send card" from the cards remaining in their own side. This exchange is repeated, and the player who gets rid of their own side's cards first is the winner. In order to quickly grab the card that has been read, the key is to know how many characters of the first verse you need to hear in order to identify the card in the second verse, and the minimum number of characters in the first verse is called the "kiraji." Also, the card with the longest kiraji, six characters, is called the "Oyamafuda" and is used in negotiations as an important card that can decide the outcome of the game.

Today's competitive karuta was started when journalist and translator Kuroiwa Ruiko unified the various rules of the ancient song karuta and held a national tournament in 1904 (Meiji 37). Kuroiwa promoted the popularity of karuta by publishing a special feature on the Hayatori method in the newspaper he founded, Yorozu Choho, and this method of competition led to the spread of the game throughout the country after the Taisho period. The All Japan Karuta Association was then established in 1948 (Showa 23), and competitive karuta, which had ceased during the war, was revived. The association became a general incorporated association in 2014 (Heisei 26) and hosts major tournaments throughout the country, including the Meijin Tournament (for men) and Queen Tournament (for women), which decide the best player in Japan at Omi Shrine (Otsu City), as well as the National Selection Tournament, the All Japan Championship Tournament, the Women's Championship Tournament, and annual competitions at the National Cultural Festival.

[Editorial Department]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌がるたの小倉(おぐら)百人一首を使い、早取りを競う競技。個人戦と団体戦があり、団体戦の方式は大会により異なる。対戦者は100枚の裏返しにされた札から互いに25枚ずつを抜き取り、面前の自陣に表にした札を3段にして並べておき、札の配置を15分間でできるだけ暗記しておく（100枚のうち50枚は読まれてもその場に存在しない空札(からふだ)となる）。その後、読み手が読みあげる上の句を聞き、自陣か、敵陣に並べてある合計50枚の札のなかから、読まれた歌の下の句が書かれた札を、瞬時に見極めてとることを競い合う。自陣の札をとったら持ち札1枚が減り、敵陣の札をとった場合は、自陣に残っている札のなかから「送り札」として敵陣に渡すことができる。このやりとりを繰り返し、早く自陣の札をなくしたほうが勝者となる。読まれた札を早くとるためには、上の句の何文字目まで聞けば、下の句の札を特定することができるかが鍵(かぎ)であり、その上の句の最小限の文字数を「決まり字」という。また、決まり字がもっとも長い6字の句の札は「大山札(おおやまふだ)」とよばれ、勝負を分ける重要な札として駆け引きに使われる。

　今日行われている競技かるたは、古くから行われてきた歌がるたのさまざまな規則を、ジャーナリストで翻訳家の黒岩涙香(くろいわるいこう)が統一し、1904年（明治37）に全国競技会を催したことによって始められたものである。黒岩は自身で創刊した新聞『萬朝報(よろずちょうほう)』にかるた早取り法の特集を掲載して普及を図り、その競技方法がもとになって大正期以降に全国に広がった。その後、1948年（昭和23）に全日本かるた協会が設立され、戦時中に一時とだえていた競技かるたが復興された。同協会は2014年（平成26）に一般社団法人となり、国内の主要大会を主催しており、日本一を近江神宮(おうみじんぐう)（大津市）で決する名人戦（男性）とクイーン戦（女性）のほか、全国選抜大会、全日本選手権大会、女流選手権大会、また、国民文化祭での競技会を毎年開いている。

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