Ogoola Karuta
Ogoola Karuta is a karuta shop that offers Ogoola Karuta Poetry Games in English, German, French, Swedish and Chinese. We also offer the original Hyakuninisshu karutas translated in English, Swedish and French.
Ogoola Karuta poetry game is the world's first non-Japanese karuta which uses poetry quotes from poems written in English, German, French, Swedish and Chinese. Karuta is a game based on a 400 year old traditional Japanese poetry game.
The game is about listening and being fast. A reader reads a poetry quote aloud from a reading card. The players grab the matching playing card which is being read aloud as fast as she can. Be the first to win!
Please visit our website at http://www.ogoola.org
Ogoola Karuta
Our mission
Our mission is to spread karuta and poetry all over the world.
Since 2009, we have been specializing in making karuta in non-Japanese languages to be able to share with the world the beauty of poetry and the excitement you can experience through this game of karuta.
Ogoola Karuta Poetry Game is a card game which uses poetry quotes from famous poems that originates in non-Japanese countries. Our Karutas are a variation of the traditional Japanese poetry game, Ogura Hyakunin-isshu Uta-karuta.
Karuta has been played for over 400 years in Japan. Today we offer karutas in English, German, French, Swedish and Chinese using the original poems (quotes) written in each of these languages.
For people interested in the original Japanese karuta using the Hyakuninisshu poems, we offer the Hyakuninisshu Translated Karutas in English, Swedish and French. The English Hyakuninisshu karuta uses the translation by Clay Mac Cauley (1917). This translation follows the Japanese waka form of 57577 syllables so it is possible to sing the poems in the same melody as the original Japanese poems. We are proud to present our recording of this English translation which is made into a free reader app. The English translation recording has two editions. One which is sung in the original melody and the other which is read. The readings can also be found on Spotify.
We hope to contribute in spreading poetry and karuta all over the world.
So what is this game about?
This game is about listening and being FAST. A reader reads the reading cards aloud while players search, find and grab fast the matching playing card which is being read aloud. Grab the correct cards before the others do in order to win! Known as an intellectual martial arts game in Japan. The cards have famous poetry quotes on them but no prior knowledge is needed!
For more information about the game please visit our website at
Fun and challenging game to play with friends and family. I didn't expect a game including poems to be this action filled but it truly does bring up your inner competitor! Ogoola Karuta requires you to be quick and alert at all times. It doesn't matter if you know the poems from before. I have played Ogoola approximately 20 times and still enjoy it! I really recommend the reader app as it makes it possible for everyone to join the game.
Great service, fast shipping, and very reasonable prices for products of such quality!
Product quality is top-notch. Shipping is fast. Customer service is AMAZING. I honestly can't recommend them enough.
I actually had to order this from overseas as UK shops don't seem to stock anything similar. Shipping was surprisingly fast and affordable.
About Us
Aya Feurst Hasegawa and Ola Feurst
Founders of Ogoola Karuta
We are an international couple from Stockholm and Tokyo specialized in making Karuta in non-Japanese languages. Our company name Olayaselection derives from our names Ola and Aya. We love to dance, play music, sing, read, play games and meet interesting people. We also love to cook plant based and try to contribute in saving our beautiful planet.
We live on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea with our beloved dog, Heyla. Ola is a marketing professor at Uppsala University, Campus Gotland and spends most of his free time together with me, working on our poetry project.
