1953 Japanese Sport/Celebrity Karuta - Sumo & Baseball

This extremely rare karuta set was only recently re-discovered after a few sets were dug up from old boxes and storage areas in Japan.  Karuta is an extremely popular card game in Japan, especially among children, and this set appears to have been aimed at that audience.  Extremely well-done cartoon drawings show various sports and entertainment figures that were popular in Japan in late 1953.  Given the fact that Yokozuna Haguroyama was not featured in this set and he retired at the end of 1953, it is likely that these were issued as a special giveaway in a 1954 New Year Edition of a Children's Magazine.  Among the people the artist captured were 11 sumo wrestlers, 9 baseball players, 1 boxer, and a variety of actors, actresses, and singers.  These cards are all hand-cut lending the thought that these were issued in uncut sheets in magazines and subsequently cut by the purchaser.  Here is a brief checklist of both the sumo wrestlers and baseball players:

Sumo Rikishi:

- う Maegashira Shimizugawa

- か Yokozuna Kagamisato

- さ Komusubi Asashio

- っYokozuna Chiyonoyama

- と Sekiwake Wakanohana

- ね Maegashira Matsunobori

- ひ Yokozuna Yoshibayama

- ふ Ozeki Mitsuneyama

- む Yokozuna Azumafuji

- れ Sekiwake Tokitsuyama

- わ Ozeki Tochinishiki

Baseball Players:

- い Chusuke Kizuka

- こ Michio Nishizawa

- せ Takahiko Bessho

- そ Tetsuharu Kawakami

- た Fumio Fujimura

- て Hiroshi Oshita

- ま Futoshi Nakanishi

- み Kaoru Betto

- る Susumu Yuki

Have a great week and saynonara!