Daiini - Nintendo

Daiini ( 大二) , Nintendo, 40c. + Oni-fuda + blank

 Again, we have another Kabu deck, Daiini- "Big Two" . The structure of this dck is not very different from the other decks of it's family, but several features make it worthy of mention:

1- The court card and ace have now been further abstracted, to such a point that they now are a few unrecognisable blobs of colour, only ( vaguely) retaining their original shape . It appears that I have displayed the knave ( 1st image, 1st row, 5th from left) upside down, but the design is so abstract, IMO, it makes little difference!

2- The 4s have a little circle in the middle of their 4 pips; It contains the characters "大二" - Daiini- thus spelling out the pattern's name. The deuces ( 2s) reflect this, as their pips are rather large when compared with the others

( top row) - 6, 7 , 8, 9, ( Knave)

( bottom row) ( ace) , 2, 3, 4, 5

L-R - Onifuda, special ace, special 3, special 4

The "special" ace, 3, and 4. are not very far removed from other such decks , save the use of gold instead of silver ink. Note the Onifuda. The demon's eyes are framed in gold ink, thus giving it the rather comical appearence of wearing spectacles!

The knave displayed one way, and then another. I leave it to you to decide which card is " Right side Up"

Mahjong- Hanayama

"カード麻雀"(Mahjong)- Hanayama, 139 + 4 C.

The Japanese game of mahjong differs slightly from the versions played in China, HK, and elsewhere. For starters, the game uses only 136 tiles, instead of the 144 or more used elsewhere. These variations are reflected in a pretty little set from that country.
 The set presented below is a complete fac-similie of a japanese mahjong set, reproduced on paper. The cards here are closer to the size of mahjong tiles than normal playing cards ( they are only 3 x 5 cm ), and as a result, the set also comes with four card "racks",  on which the cards may be held in the game

Besides, the basic structure of the deck is more or less similar to the other examples shown elsewhere on this site ( compare http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2012/09/mahjong-ii-kr-brand.html)

The suit of coins.

Note the miniature depeictions of the cards used as indices placed in the corners of the cards.  Also note that colour black, or rather, a very dark indigo blue, replaces the brilliant blue of other sets

The suit of bamboos-

Note the one of bamboos ( 1st row, 1st from left) The bird depicted here is much more complex than that of the previous examples, resembling a peacock, rather than an abstract jumble of lines resempling a parrot

the suit of 萬

Again, not much removed from the other examples shown

~Other cards, and the back design~

The Dragons  ( A ) dislpay small variants from the chinese. For starters, the "發" is written somewhat differntly from the chinese. Secondly, the "白板" here is completely blank, without the "frame" in other examples. However, the makers printed, in a very faint grey , the word 白 on the card ( barely visible in the above img. ), perhaps to prevent it from being mistaken for a spare card. 

The Winds ( B) are relatively unexcaptional.

  Here is where the differences between Japanese mahjong and the Chinese versions become apparent. Firstly, There are no flowers, as the japanese game usually does not use them. However, in some variants, three cards, known as "red fives" are used. ( C) . They function as special bonuses.

as for D, I know not what it does ( any Trasnlation appreceated) , and E is a yakitori marker- A piece of scoring appartus used in the game.