game pieces

Child's counter game with 99 counters made of card, each with a printed and coloured image of the head of a famous regional general from before the Edo period on one side, printed on paper and adhered to the card. The reverse is plain. Each also has a character giving the name and weapon for each general. The cards are edged with five scallop shapes. The paper has become detached from some of the cards, with 11 plain cards and 13 loose papers present.

This set was probably used for menko, a game for boys where contestants attempt to flip the cards by means of throwing a card at the table to create a draught. If the card flips over, they win that card. But cards for this type of game are usually larger, according to Yukiko Hashimoto of the Edo Tokyo Museum.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk