Release Date: Oct. 19, 2015 Running Time:  31 min. Listen Now: Download: Enhanced Version  MP3 Version Subscribe via iTunes: Enhanced - MP3 See sidebar for other subscription options

Japon Brand offers many different games from Japanese designers but is not a traditional publisher in the European or American sense of the word. It is an alliance of many small publishers brought together by practical necessity - pooling their resources in order to bring more games to market

We chat with the founder of Japon Brand, Takerube Nobuaki, noted game designer Seiji Kanai and translator Simon Lundstrom about Hanafuda (Flower Cards), a classic Japanese card game. Hanafuda has a fascinating history including Portuguese missionaries, gambling and the founding of Nintendo.  

We also discuss the influence of traditional board and card games like Hanafuda and Shogi or Go on modern game designers and players in Japan.

Finally, we conclude with a chat about the recent micro-game craze, inspired in part by the global success of Seiji's game Love Letter.

Links and show notes continue after the break.

Hanafuda     Japon Brand  |  BGG

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