Ono, an inhabitant of Mino (says an ancient Japanese legend of A.D. 545), spent the seasons longing for his ideal of female beauty. He met her one evening on a vast moor and married her. Simultaneously with the birth of their son, Ono’s dog was delivered of a pup which as it grew up became more and more hostile to the lady of the moors. She begged her husband to kill it, but he refused. At last one day the dog attacked her so furiously that she lost courage, resumed vulpine shape, leaped over a fence and fled. “You may be a fox”, Ono called after her, “but you are the mother of my son and I love you. Come back when you please; you will always be welcome”. So every evening she stole back and slept in his arms.

Excerpt from Come and Sleep by the monk Kyoukai, 9th century AD

Sumi Playing Cards – Kitsune is Card Experiment's 2nd collaboration with ToKMR Graphics following our highly successful

In Kitsune, we continue to translate and transform the traditional Japanese tattoo art form of Wabori into playing card style, retaining as well as enhancing many of the interesting and delightful features we had in Sumi Playing Cards. The focus of Kitsune centers around the fox spirit, a staple in Japanese folklore. We scoured many different sources of folktales, stories and myths about fox spirits and selected a few well-known ones as sources of inspiration for the characters in the court cards. Kistune continues to serve as a homage to Wabori and faithfully represents the visual nuances and quality that is the hallmark of Japanese traditional tattoo once again, creating a visual playing card masterpiece like no other, a masterpiece that weaves fantastical stories of begone time with modern playing card aesthetics.

KickStarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cardexperiment/sumi-playing-cards-kitsune

Sumi Playing Cards - Kitsune is Card Experiment's 2nd collaboration with ToKMR Graphics, following our highly successful Sumi Playing Cards campaign.

In Kitsune, we continue to translate and transform the traditional Japanese tattoo art form of Wabori into playing card style, retaining as well as enhancing many of the interesting and delightful features we had in Sumi Playing Cards. The focus of Kitsune centers around the fox spirit, a staple in Japanese folklore. We scoured many different sources of folktales, stories and myths about fox spirits and selected a few well-known ones as sources of inspiration for the characters in the Court cards.

Kistune continues to serve as an homage to Wabori and faithfully represents the visual nuances and quality that is the hallmark of the Japanese traditional tattoo once again. This creates a visual playing card masterpiece like no other -- a masterpiece that weaves fantastical stories of begone times with modern playing card aesthetics.

KickStarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cardexperiment/sumi-playing-cards-kitsune

Concept of the Sumi Playing Cards: Grandmaster Edition

This card deck is an homage to Irezumi, the traditional Japanese tattoo art form. The Sumi Playing Cards: Grandmaster Edition faithfully emulates the iconic elements of ukiyo-e, fantastical mythological creatures, and Heroes of the Marsh. It forges a visual playing card masterpiece like no other. It is truly a masterpiece, bursting with symbolic significance at every movement of the cards, including spins, shuffles, fans, cardistry, and more.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cardexperiment/sumi-playing-cards

Concept of the Sumi Playing Cards: Artist Edition

This deck is an homage to Irezumi, the traditional Japanese tattoo art form. The Sumi Playing Cards: Artist Edition faithfully emulates the iconic elements of ukiyo-e, fantastical mythological creatures, and Heroes of the Marsh. It forges a visual playing card masterpiece like no other. It is truly a masterpiece, bursting with symbolic significance at every movement of the cards, including spins, shuffles, fans, cardistry, and more.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cardexperiment/sumi-playing-cards