About the Association
Serving the global karuta community
The World Karuta Association exists for the promotion of karuta around the world through the distribution of Whack a Waka with three goals in mind.
- Facilitation of English-language karuta competitions across the globe
At the Association, we hope that karuta will one day be include in the Olympics. To this end, we help sponsor English-language karuta competitions all over the world. The first such competition was held at the US Embassy Tokyo in cooperation with former US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy with underwriting from Mitsukoshi Isetan Holdings on January 13, 2017. Sixty-four Japanese high school students participated in the competition, which was covered by NHK, The Huffington Post, as well as other international media outlets.
2. Spread of Japanese culture through karuta gameplay
As people play karuta with the Whack a Waka , they gain exposure to classical Japanese history and literature, specifically the waka poetry that comprises the hundred-card set. As the game gains popularity, the presence of waka becomes more widely known, and perhaps players will develop an interest in this time-honored poteic form and look to learn more.
3. Promotion of language learning through karuta gameplay
The official English-language karuta promotes a unique way of language learning: poetry memorization. Japanese players can learn the language necessary to share their culture with the rest of the world through the poems' translations, and English-speaking players can begin to learn Japanese through each poem's original Japanese text printed on the card's reverse side.