Hong Kong-based designer Mijiko‘s passion for playing cards sparked when her very first playing cards project, MEDCHA Playing Cards – a deck about tea and meditation, was a success. Then, it is followed by Sushi Cats Playing Cards – a deck about sushi and cute cats. Now, she comes back with another exciting and adorable project, Onsen Neko Playing Cards, a decksabout Japanese hot springs and cute cats.
The Onsen Neko tuck box features a vibrant red and gold foiled box, inspired by favorite animation film “Spirited Away”. The front side features a grand Japanese red building with the title of the deck. The back side features a group of cute cats enjoying their baths. The box has an interior artwork of UKIYOE wave pattern done in gold foil.
Inside, the cards comes with a stunning red foil on the two-way card backs featuring illustration of a grey cat enjoying its hot spring bath. The kanji Japanese character is located in the center, creating a subtle one-way back. Also, the cards will be gilded with red metallic foil with a ripple water texture – to represent the rippling waters of the onsen.
The court cards feature very cute cat deities of Japan – in Japanese folklore, cats have protective powers and symbolise good fortune. These cat’s illustrations looked familiar as it is based on Shinto Neko Playing Cards by Charmie Dreams – Herman contributed to the design of the courts for the deck. All of the faces feature stunning gold metallic foil.
The Aces feature each of the cats enjoying a nice hot bath in a wooden bathtub with colorful waters. The suits are divided into four different colors – they represent the different colors of Japanese onsen waters: Spades is green – Hearts is red – Clubs is blue – Diamonds is yellow.
The number cards feature groups of cats enjoying their onsen. They showcase 10 popular Onsen locations in Japan as well as providing several tips for a great Onsen experience. A group of number cards feature different colors based on different colored onsen waters.
The Jokers feature the Bathing Duck, which is a popular toy for a bathing buddy – one represents Day, which is signalled by the red sun, and the other one represents Night, which is signalled by the lit lantern.
The deck may come with a special collector’s box made of wood – fashioned to look like the Yuoke bucket found in Onsens. The half brick box is fashioned to be wrapped with traditional Japanese wrapping cloth – Furoshiki: the bamboo-art printing paper box containing 6 decks will be wrapped with a tailor-made full pattern-printed cloth.
Printed by WJPC and pledge starts from $19 on Kickstarter.
