Karuta is a traditional Japanese card game based on the Iroha kana order. Various kanji combinations have been used for the word Karuta: 歌留多、加留多、嘉留太、 and 骨牌. It is most commonly written in katakana: カルタ. The word itself comes from the Portuguese, carta.
Each card has a poem that starts with a different hiragana character. The cards are spread out faced up with a single hiragana and picture depicting the poem or proverb. A reader, usually an adult, reads the saying. From the sound of the first character, the children race to find the card with that hiragana on it. Karuta is a great way to not only build hiragana recognition, but to learn many useful proverbs. It is a favorite pastime on New Year's Day.
There are several other sets of karuta sayings, proverbs, and poems, but this set, called inubou (for the first card), is probably the most common. There are a few variations and I've listed all that I can find. Please comment on any improvements on the English translation or explanation.
Here are all the sayings, one for each hiragana:
Kana | Saying | romaji | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|---|
い | 犬も歩けば棒に当たる | inu mo arukeba bou ni ataru | Even a dog walking will find a stick |
ろ | 論より証拠 | ron yori shouko | Evidence over debate |
は | 花より団子 | hana yori dango | Dango is better than flowers. (the useful is better than the pretty) |
に | 憎まれっ子世にはばかる | nikumarekko yo ni habakaru | Bad boys are throughout the world |
ほ | 骨折り損のくたびれ儲け | honeori zon no kutabiremouke | Working hard for nothing gains only fatigue |
へ | 屁をひって尻すぼめる -or- 下手の横好き | he o hitte shiri subomeru -or- heta no yokozuki | Try closing one's butt when farting -or- Loving to do something, but being bad at it. |
と | 年寄りの冷や水 | toshiyori no hiyamizu | Old people's cold water (old people doing something not befitting their age) |
ち | ちりも積もれば山となる | chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru | Even dust, when accumulated, becomes a mountain |
り | 律義者の子沢山 -or- 良薬は口に苦し | richigimono no kodakusan -or- ryouyaku wa kuchi ni nigashi | An honest person has lots of children -or- Good medicine tastes bad [helpful advice may be hard to hear] |
ぬ | 盗人の昼寝 | nusubito no hirune | A robber's nap. [to prepare for an evil purpose] |
る | 瑠璃も玻璃も照らせば光る | ruri mo hari mo teraseba hikaru | Lapiz lazuli and crystal will sparkle in light |
を | 老いては子に従え -or- 溺れる者は藁をも掴む | oite wa ko ni shitagae -or- oboreru mono wa wara o mo tsukamu | When old, obey your children -or- A drowning man will grasp a straw |
わ | 破れ鍋に綴じ蓋 | warenabe ni tojibuta | A repaired lid for a cracked pot |
か | かったいの瘡うらみ -or- かわいい子には旅をさせ | kattai no kasa urami -or- kawaii ko ni wa tabi o sase | The leper envies someone with syphilis -or- Send a cute child on a trip [spare the rod, spoil the child; travelling in the past was a challenge] |
よ | 葦のずいから天井のぞく | yoshi no zui kara tenjou nozoku | Look at heaven through a reed |
た | 旅は道連れ世は情け | tabi wa michizure yo wa nasake | In a journey we are companions; in the world we have compassion |
れ | 礼節を知る | reisetsu o shiru | To know proper decorum |
そ | 総領の甚六 | souryou no jinroku | First born is a dunce |
つ | 月夜に釜を抜かれる | tsukiyo ni kama wo nukareru | The cauldron was taken by the moonlight |
ね | 念には念を入れよ | nen niwa nen o ireyo | Add care to being careful |
な | 泣きっ面に蜂 | nakittsura ni hachi | A crying face is stung by a wasp [when it rains it pours] |
ら | 楽あれば苦あり | raku areba ku ari | If there's pleasure, there is pain |
む | 無理が通れば道理引っ込む | muri ga toureba douri hikkomu | When the unreasonable barges in, reason leaves |
う | 嘘から出た真 | uso kara deta makoto | A lie that became truth |
ゐ | 芋の煮えたもご存じない | (w)imo no nieta mo gozonji nai | Doesn't know when the potatoes are boiled |
の | 喉元過ぎれば熱さを忘れる | nodomoto o sugireba atsusa o wasureru | After passing the throat, the hotness is forgotten |
お | 鬼に金棒 -or- 老いては子に従う | oni ni kanabou -or- oite wa koni shitagai | Give a metal rod to an oni -or- The aged should listen to the young |
く | 臭いものに蓋をする | kusai mono ni futa o suru | Cover a stench |
や | 安物買いの銭失い | yasumono gai no zeni ushinai | Buying cheap throws away money [You get what you pay for] |
ま | 負けるが勝ち | makeru ga kachi | To lose is to win |
け | 芸は身を助く -or- 怪我の功名 | gei wa mi o tasuku -or- kega no koumyou | Art helps one -or- Lucky hit |
ふ | 文はやりたし書く手は持たぬ -or- 風呂敷を広げる | fumi wa yaritashi kaku te wa motanu -or- furoshiki o hirogeru | Wanting to write, but has no hand -or- Spread out a furoshiki [To make plans for something unrealistic] |
こ | 子は三界の首枷 | ko wa sankai no kubikase | Children are a burden in the past, present, and future (for parents) |
え | えてに帆を上ぐ -or- 縁は異なもの味なもの | ete ni ho o agu -or- en wa inamono ajinamono | To sail before the wind -or- Relationships are formed in strange and wonderful ways |
て | 亭主の好きな赤烏帽子 | teishu no sukina aka eboshi | Let the husband have his red hat [follow the head of the house even if a bit eccentric] |
あ | 頭隠して尻隠さず | atama kakushite shiri kakusazu | Hide your head, expose your butt |
さ | 三遍回って煙草にしょ | sanben mawatte tabako ni sho | Let's go around three times and have a smoke [do your work first, then have relaxation] |
き | 聞いて極楽見て地獄 | kiite gokuraku mite jigoku | Hearing, sounds like paradise; seeing, realize it is hell |
ゆ | 油断大敵 | yudan taiteki | Carelessness is a great enemy |
め | 目の上のこぶ | me no ue noe kobu | A swelling over the eyes [a pain in the butt] |
み | 身から出た錆 | mi kara deta sabi | Rust out of the blade [paying for one's mistakes] |
し | 知らぬが仏 | shiranu ga hotoke | He who knows nothing is like Buddha |
ゑ | 縁は異なもの味なもの | en wa ina mono aji na mono | Relationships are formed in strange and wonderful ways |
ひ | 貧乏暇なし -or- 瓢箪から駒が出る | binbou hima nashi -or- hyoutan kara koma ga deru | Poverty has no leisure -or- Horse comes out of a gourd [something totally unexpected] |
も | 門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む | monzen no kozou narawanu kyou o yomu | A boy living near a temple recites a sutra he never learned [knowing something without having studied it] |
せ | 背に腹は変えられぬ | se ni hara wa kaerarenu | Can't exchange a belly for a back |
す | 粋は身を食う | sui wa mi o kuu | a chic lifestyle ruins one's fortune |
京 | 京の夢大阪の夢 | kyou no yume oosaka no yume | Dream of Kyoto; dream of Osaka |
* The 京 was added in place of ん since you can't start a word with ん.
