How-to-Play Video Released! Certified as 'Shinjuku IPPIN'! Educational Game 'Imitori Karuta'

To the Press

April 24, 2025

A Japanese dictionary becomes a game! 'Imitori Karuta', where you listen to the meaning to grab the word.

*Video: https://youtu.be/DQ78YWBZdrQ

Toy manufacturer GP Inc. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Kazuhide Yonekawa) announces the latest information on 'Imitori Karuta', a board game adaptation of the top-selling elementary Japanese dictionary, 'Shogakukan Reikai Gakushu Kokugo Jiten'.

*Ranked #1 in sales for elementary Japanese dictionaries (Based on Tonets-i, CANTERA, Nikkyohan research from Jan-Jul 2024)

◆ How-to-Play Video
Youtube: https://youtu.be/DQ78YWBZdrQ

This video explains what kind of game this is through easy-to-understand visuals and audio.
You can understand how to play instantly just by watching.

◆ Educational Application of 'Imitori Karuta'

By playing 'Imitori Karuta', children can experience the joy of learning words and using a dictionary, leading to its growing educational application. It is increasingly being used in after-school programs and elementary school classes in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo.

◆ Certified as 'Shinjuku IPPIN' by Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo.

Developed at our headquarters in Shinjuku-ku, 'Imitori Karuta' is sold nationwide as an excellent educational game.

*Public Relations Shinjuku: https://www.city.shinjuku.lg.jp/content/000448020.pdf

◆ Product Information
Product Name: Imitori Karuta
Price: 1,600 yen (1,760 yen including tax)
Release Date: Scheduled for March 21, 2025
JAN Code: 4543471004581
Number of Players: 3-10
Target Age: 5 and up
Play Time: 15+ minutes
Package Size: 110 x 180 x 35 mm
Production Cooperation: Shogakukan Inc. Publishing Bureau, Dictionary Editorial Department
Source: Shogakukan Reikai Gakushu Kokugo Jiten 12th Edition
Editing: GP Inc.
Game Design: Yoshihiko Koriyama (ForGames)

◆ Product Overview

We carefully selected 90 words and their meanings from the approximately 48,800 words included in the top-selling 'Shogakukan Reikai Gakushu Kokugo Jiten' to create this board game. It is a karuta-style game where you listen to the meaning read from the dictionary and snatch the corresponding word card.

- Experience the joy of discovering words!
Even with words you use normally, you might not know their exact meanings.
There might even be words that adults don't fully understand!?
Since it's a game of grabbing word cards while understanding their meanings, players can experience the joy of discovering and knowing words.

- 4 types of cards to play according to your level!
There are 4 types of cards: 'Beginner', 'Advanced', 'Development', and 'Custom', allowing play suited to the players and their levels.
Beginner and Advanced cards were selected from 7,700 basic words that should be learned during elementary school. The reading cards indicate the target grade level in the upper right corner.

'Beginner' features 30 relatively easy words selected from 1st-3rd grade basic words, specifically including simple words that even 5-year-olds can play with.
'Advanced' features 30 slightly more difficult words selected from 4th-6th grade basic words, focusing on words that even adults might struggle to define clearly.
'Development' features 30 words selected from the remaining roughly 40,000 words. It focuses on words that are fun as a game, loan words (katakana), and trendy words, rather than just purely academic ones.
'Custom' consists of blank cards. The words people know, consider important, or want to learn/teach differ from person to person. We included 30 blank cards so players can create cards featuring words important to them.

Please flip through the dictionary, find words, and try making your very own original karuta.
Creating the 'karuta' together is also part of the fun. Try making 'my karuta' with classmates, or not just among children, but with parents and grandparents. The 'karuta' you make together will surely become a treasure for everyone.

◆ Copyrights
©Shogakukan 2023
©2025 GP Inc.
©ForGames