Karuta is a Japanese game. My limited understanding is that various versions of a poem are printed on a deck of cards. They may vary by a word or two. The players have the cards laid out before them. A reader reads the text of one of the cards. When the players figure out which card matched the text, they try to be the first to snatch it.

I’ve never heard of such a thing. How fascinating! I wonder how the game emerged.
Happy Weekend Milord 🙂
Thank you. You can call me Chris
There are two types of those games, Karuta and Hyakunin-ishu. In case of former one, reader reads the same words written on cards. You could enjoy it if you learn around 50 Japanese letters. For latter one, you need to learn a hundred of poems because only the last 14 letters are written on the cards. The reader starts reading from the beginning of the poem and your opponent may find the proper card before listening to the last 14 letters.
Thank you for all of the information. There was a very brief description of the game before the demonstration but clearly, there’s more to it.
Challenging game! Interesting.
I thought so. I’m not sure how I’d do with an English version of it.
So interesting..Great images Chris 🌹
Thank you. It was fun to see.
Cool! Where was this at?
It was at a Japanese cultural fair on Boston Common.