On Kickstarter, Sushi Cats Playing Cards by Hyuga and Mijiko

Earlier this year, Hyuga, and Mijiko produced MEDCHA Playing Cards, an infographic deck about tea. It was a huge success with people enjoying the decks as much as the creator had fun designing and producing them. Now, the team is back with another interesting playing cards project- Sushi Cats Playing Cards, a deck about sushi and cute cats.

The back design features two cats holding onigiri (Japanese rice ball) with the “Sushi” banner behind it and accompanied by two black fishes. The four customized suits are located on the corners outside the border.

There is the Japanese letter for ‘sushi’ in the center that acts as the subtle one-way back element. The cards will be gilded with orange-pink foils that give the wavy pattern impression of a fresh salmon. 

The number cards are presented in a unique way. The pips in particular are fashioned to look like sushi or onigiri, Japanese favorite cuisine, – stacked on a wooden tray plate. The court cards are based on the 12 Sushi Cats characters designed by PinLuck Butter. Each of the characters represents one kind of sushi with a funny caption.

The Aces are designed in classic Japanese calligraphy style. The Ace of Spades shows a big spade pip showing a wave painting with cats spotted lounging around them. The other Aces show a slightly bigger pip with big stylized Japanese characters.

The Jokers show two different illustrations: one with a sleeping cat on a sushi, and the other is a sushi on top of a lying cat.

The deck is packaged in a tuck box featuring cute artwork and an illustration of a cat clinging to the seaweed wrapping of salmon sushi. The outer layer is a plastic sleeve with printed artwork of kittens and rice bits. Combining both layers and you will have the complete design of the box.

Also, a collector’s set is available during the Kickstarter campaign. The wooden box comes with engraved Sushi Cat graphics with a foiled paper sleeve. Long with the deck, an enamel pin of a random sushi cat character, and a map showing some of the sushi shops in Japan will be included.

Printed by WJPC and pledge starts at $18 on Kickstarter.