Hyakunin Isshu Kimariji Memory Tips Board

In competitive karuta, the kimariji (deciding syllables) are the opening sounds of a poem that tell you which card to take. Memorizing them for all 100 poems is hard work, but someone else’s clever mnemonic or trick can make it surprisingly easy. This is a place to share your own original ways of remembering them, so that you can react the instant you hear the upper verse and take the card as fast as possible. To read or post tips, click the red arrow on the right of each poem.

This board shares its posts with the Japanese version, so many of the tips are written in Japanese. Of course, you are very welcome to share your tips in English. Posts that are off-topic or that may make others uncomfortable may be deleted at the site operator’s discretion.