Kakeya Toranpu

2009/11/28 Yuji Akagiri

"Kakeya Toranpu" ("Kakeya" Trump) is a trick-taking card game that is played only in a small town: Kakeya Town, the City of Unnan, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. (The Japanese word "toranpu" derives from "trump" but means playing card.)

They say about 260 years ago a doctor in Kakeya went to Nagasaki to study medicine and brought back western playing cards and in Meiji Period a descendant of him spread western card games. (Nagasaki was the only city in Japan where the foreign trade was permitted at that time. Meiji Period is the period from 1868 to 1912.)

Although this game is called "Kakeya Toranpu" externally, it is called "Etori" inside the town. We can find the games of the same name ("Etori") in the old Japanese books, and the ones in the middle of Meiji period are almost same as Kakeya Toranpu in the basic rules. But in Kakeya Toranpu the scoring system is much improved and there are differences in the manner of play.

(The manners of play in Kakeya Toranpu, such as the way of dealing or the way of deciding trump suits, are quite unique and not usual in Japan.)

Players

There are 4 or 6 players in fixed partnerships of two players. Partners sit opposite each other.

All players of a partnership deal cards. The partners who deal are called "Kubariban" or dealers. In 6 player game, dealers don't play.

In 6 player game, each player draws one of lottery sticks on which numbers 1 through 6 are written. The player who draws number 1 stick can sit anywhere. The player who draws number 2 stick sits to the right of him, and so on. The partnerships are number 1 and 4, number 2 and 5, and number 3 and 6. The first dealers are number 3 and 6.

In 4 player game, each player draws one of lottery sticks on which numbers 1 through 4 are written, and sits as in 6 player game. The partnerships are number 1 and 3, and number 2 and 4. The first dealers are number 2 and 4.

From the second deal, the losers become next dealers. In 6 player game, the dealers don't play, and the dealers of the previous deal come to play.

Cards

A standard 52 card pack is used. The cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2.

Aces, Kings, Queens, and Jacks of all suits are called "Egara" or picture cards. There are 16 picture cards. The purpose of this game is to take as many picture cards as possible.

Trumps

Trumps are called "Kiri".

At the first deal, the trump suit is spade. But the dealers can change the trump suit to any other suit if they proposed it before any player picks up the dealt cards.

At the second or later deals, the trump suit is same as that in previous deal. But in 6 player game, any of the dealers of the previous deal can change the trump suit. In 4 player game, any of the dealers can do so.

There is no tactical reason in changing trump suits because the proposal should be done before seeing hands.

Rensho

If the trump suit is spade, "Rensho" is the ace of clubs. Otherwise "Rensho" is the ace of spades.

If Rensho is played, it alway wins even if any trumps are played. But it belongs to the original suit, that is, Rensho belongs to clubs if it is the ace of clubs, and it belongs to spades if it is the ace of spades.

Counters

Before starting the game, each partnership has five Go stones (playing pieces for "Go" game) or other counters.

Deal

The dealers take cards about half-and-half and shuffle them. One of the dealers deals first. Whichever dealer can deal first. He deals all the cards one by one to four places anticlockwise to make four piles of cards. When he finishes dealing, he points to the pile where next card should be dealt. From there the other dealer deals all the cards. The card which was dealt last is called "Kirijimai" or the last card.

The pile including the last card is taken by the nearer player of the the following partners:

1.  6 player game:
   • The first deal: the partners to the right of dealers
   • The second or later deal: the dealers of the previous deal
2.  4 player game: the dealers

Then the active player to the right of him takes the pile to the right of the taken pile, and so on.

Play

One of the non-dealers leads to the first trick. In 6 player game, one of the winners of the previous deal leads first.

Anyone of the partners can lead. So the partners briefly talk about which to lead. But they must not exchange information on their hands.

Any card may be led. The other players, in anticlockwise order, each play a card to the trick. Players must follow suit by playing a card of the same suit as the card led if they can; a player with no card of the suit led may play any card.

If a trick contains Rensho, it wins the trick. Otherwise the trick is won by the highest trump in it - or if it contains no trump, by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next.

Rensho belongs not to the trumps but to the original suit, and there is no special rule on playing Rensho.

The taken tricks are heaped face down at the center of the table except picture cards, which are placed face up near the one of the partners who took them.

Score

The partners who take 9 tricks or more are winners. If each partnership takes 8 tricks, the partners who don't have Rensho in their hands win.

The winners receives the following Go stones from the losers according to the number of tricks taken and the cards in their hands:

If the winning partners have no aces in their hands, they receive 4 stones. If they don't have Rensho nor the ace of trumps but have one or two other aces, they receive 2 stones.

Otherwise, they get 1 stone if they take less than 12 tricks, they get 2 stones if they take 12 to 15 tricks, or they get 4 stones if they take all tricks.

Game

The game ends when a partnership has no Go stones. The number of stones is the final score. But if a partnership doesn't have enough stones to pay, their sore goes negative and the receiver scores as if they received enough stones.

The partnership that has the highest score wins. In case of same highest score, the game is draw with these partnerships.

Etori

The rule of Etori game written on the books in the middle of Meiji Period differs from Kakeya Toranpu as follows:

• Cards are dealt as the western standard way. Dealer is alone. The game  proceeds clockwise. (But some books says counterclockwise.)
• If both partnerships take 8 tricks, it is a draw.
• The winners always score 1 point. ( According to a few books, the  winners subtract 7 from the number of taken tricks and score the result.)
• Rensho is called "Supekyureshon" or Speculation.  It is always the ace of spades.
• Only hearts, diamonds or clubs can be the trump suit.  The trump suit rotates among these three suits.

Variation of Score

The score of Kakeya Toranpu is scheduled as follows:

But the following table is used  by a game circle "Nakayoshi Mura", to which I belongs, to improve it.