Chaos and Kanji is the blog where I write about my adventures through Japan!

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Saturday, March 11, 2017

Menko Madness: Playing Card and War Backs

These menko may look very similar to the ones before it, but there are some distinct difference in today's lot.

The fronts all have artwork of some kind, and with one exception seems to be related to some kind of fantasy concept. It could be from a comic book or just designed specifically for the set. These could be related to the TV shows - Kamen Rider tends to ride a motorcycle, and the two lefthand cards look like they could be based on Ultraman characters. 
The backs again have a playing card at the top, but there is no road sign. Below that is a war image, but unlike the generally-futuristic images seen yesterday, these appear to be more related to current scenes (a first aid tent, missiles, tanks, etc). The menko number at the bottom is much longer, and the janken symbol is now a shadow. Back colors are blue, green, or brown. The "red" back is due to some now-grown-up kid's marker. There is a mark of some sort with the main image on the backs, but it is different from card to card, so I doubt it's a printer's symbol.
These card backs are identical in design to the baseball menko set JCM141 (1962 War/Playing Card Back). Those were sold as complete 8-card uncut sheets. It's entirely possible that these were distributed at the same time and kids could choose which sheet they wanted.

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