Utagarasu - Utagarasu

A type of karuta game based on waka poetry. 100 waka poems are selected, one poem written on each small paper card is used as the reading card, and cards with only the lower part of the poem written on them are scattered among the players as pick-up cards (tori-fuda). As the reader reads the upper part of the poem, the players pick up the cards with the lower part of the poem that follows, and the winner is decided by the number of cards. This game takes the style of Utagai, which was born from the ancient games of Kaiawase and Kaioi, and instead of shells, wooden cards shaped like shogi pieces or thick paper with gold and silver foil are used, and works such as "The Tale of Genji," "The Tale of Ise," and "Kokinshu" are written on them. From the mid-Edo period, cards that mainly contain the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu and have a rectangular shape like Western karuta came to be called Utagaruta. In the Meiji era, a standard karuta game was established, and the format and gameplay were also refined. Games such as "Chirashi," in which players scatter picked cards and compete to see who can catch the most, "Genpei," in which players are divided into teams and compete to see who can get the most cards on the table, and "Master's Tournament," which is a competition of individual skill, are now played.

[Noh Sato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

かるた遊びの一種で、和歌をもとにしたもの。和歌100首を選び、小さい紙札に各1首を記したものを読み札とし、下(しも)の句だけを記したものを拾い札（取り札）として競技者の間にまき散らし、読み人が上(かみ)の句を読むにしたがって、競技者がそれに続く下の句の札をとり、その札の多少によって勝敗を決する。この遊びは、古く行われた貝合(かいあわせ)、貝覆(かいおおい)から生まれた歌貝の様式をとり、貝のかわりに将棋の駒(こま)の形をした木札や金銀箔(はく)を押した厚紙を用いるようになって、『源氏物語』『伊勢(いせ)物語』『古今集』などを記した。江戸中期から、もっぱら小倉(おぐら)百人一首を記し、形も西洋カルタ式の長方形となったものを歌がるたとよぶようになった。明治時代になって標準かるたが制定され、形式や遊び方なども整い、拾い札をまき散らしてとった数を競う「ちらし」、組に分かれて場札の上がりを争う「源平」ほか、個人技を競う名人戦なども行われている。

［佐藤農人］

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