“Iroha karuta” is a kind of traditional Japanese card game, played mainly during the New Year’s holiday. Just like the “abc…” of the English alphabet, “iroha”stands for the order of the 47 hiragana characters. Nowadays, it is more common to learn the order as “a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko ...” but the iroha sequence has been used since ancient times. Iroha karuta is played with a set of 47 cards on each of which is written a proverb, and 47 cards on which a picture related to the proverb is drawn. Picture cards are laid out in front of the players, with the picture side displayed. The proverb cards are read one by one by a reader. Players compete to pick up the picture cards that match the proverb, and the winner is the person who picks up the most cards. The proverb for the “i”（い）of “iroha” is “Inu mo arukeba, bou ni ataru.” (If a dog walks, it will get hit by a stick). This means “On going out, danger may befall you,” but another interpretation is“On going out, you can experience various things, including good luck and bad luck.” “Ro” （ろ）is “Ron yori shouko,” (Evidence is better than debate). This means “Things become clear if you rely on proof rather than having debates.” “Ha” （は）is “Hana yori dango” (Dumplings rather than flowers). This means “Rather than beautiful things, you should find more value in useful things.” These were used in Edo (present day Tokyo), but depending on the region, some proverbs differ. For example, in Kyoto “i” （い） is “Issun saki wa/ha yami” (The future is a closed book). “Sun” （すん） is a unique Japanese unit for measuring length; one sun is approximately three centimeters, but it also means “little,” and “yami” means “darkness.” Since it has an educational side, iroha karuta is widely played by parents and their children. The order of the hiragana is called “iroha uta” (iroha poem), and these words poetically describe truths about human life. As vocabulary changed over time, these days it has become difficult to understand the meaning. The original meaning is as follows: “Even the beautiful aromatic flowers will scatter. Nothing in this world is unchanging…” This is Buddhist philosophy; it teaches us that all things change with time. An even more astonishing secret was hidden in the “iroha uta.” If you punctuate this poem by dividing it into groups of seven characters – e.g. “I ro ha ni ho he to” – when you read the last seven characters only, it reads “to ga nakute shisu.” Rephrased in modern language, the meaning becomes: “I will die as an innocent victim.” The author, who wrote a coded message in this poem using each of the 47 hiragana only once, is unknown, so this historical mystery continues.