Japanese games

board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,500 years ago

, also known as Japanese chess, is an abstract strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, Makruk, and janggi. Shōgi means general's (shō ) board game (gi ). The term shōgi is most commonly used to describe hon-shōgi ("standard shogi"), a term used to distinguish the most popular form of the game (with an 81-square board and 40 pieces) from other forms like ko-shogi (ancient shogi variants like chu shogi), modern shogi variants, and related games.

thumb|A modern pachinko machine, Galaxy Express 999-themed thumb|A pachinko parlor in is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an and, muchmore frequently, for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Japanese gambling comparable to that of the in the as a form of , gambling.

alt=A typical setup of hanafuda for the game of Koi-Koi, on top a red zabuton with a peony pattern.|thumb|A typical setup with for playing Koi-Koi|296x296px

Gomoku, also called five in a row, is an abstract strategy board game. It is traditionally played with Go pieces (black and white stones) on a 15×15 Go board while in the past a 19×19 board was standard. Because pieces are typically not moved or removed from the board, gomoku may also be played as a paper-and-pencil game. The game is known in several countries under different names.

thumb|309x309px|Kendama

children's game

thumb|220px|alt=alt text|Two squads scrambling for possession of the pole

thumb|Dorodangos made with a variety of clay and different techniques thumb|A large dorodango ( diameter) is a Japanese art form in which soil and water are combined and moulded, then carefully polished to create a delicate shiny sphere.

Renju () is a professional variant of the abstract strategy board game gomoku. It was named renju by Japanese journalist Ruikou Kuroiwa (黒岩涙香) on December 6, 1899, in a Japanese newspaper Yorozu chouhou (萬朝報). The name "renju" means "connected pearls" in Japanese. The game is played with black and white stones on a 15×15 gridded go board.

Japanese video game with attractive girls

thumb|Kemijärvi Yukigassen 2011 Final is a snowball fighting-competition played between two teams of seven players each on a pitch of snow 10 meters wide and 36 meters long. The pitch is divided into halves, and each half has three defensive "shelters" and the team flag. The goal of the game is to either capture the other team's flags or to eliminate all of the other team's players by hitting them with snowballs, 90 of which are made prior to the start of gameplay. The game has been compared to capture the flag, dodgeball, and paintball.

Traditional Japanese hand ball

parlor game

thumb|Man and woman playing ban-sugoroku (from Hikone Screen) (literally 'double six') refers to two different forms of a Japanese board game: e-sugoroku (絵双六, 'picture-sugoroku') which is similar to Western snakes and ladders, and ban-sugoroku (盤双六, 'board-sugoroku') which is similar to western tables games like backgammon. With ban-sugoroku being obsolete, today the word sugoroku almost always means e-sugoroku.

thumb|right|200px|A game of shiritori progressing from right to left Shiritori (; ) is a Japanese word game in which the players are required to say a word which begins with the final kana of the previous word. No distinction is made between hiragana, katakana, and kanji. "Shiritori" literally means "taking the end" or "taking the rear".

Pitch-pot () is a traditional Chinese game that requires players to throw arrows or sticks from a set distance into a large, sometimes ornate, canister.

Method of random selection

Japanese variation of mahjong

2012 board game

thumb|Hanetsuki thumb|Hanetsuki paddles (left) and shuttlecocks (right) being sold at a shop in a train station. is a Japanese traditional game, similar to racket games like badminton but without a net, played with a rectangular wooden paddle called a hagoita and a brightly coloured shuttlecock, called a hane. Often played by girls at the New Year, the game can be played by any gender in two fashions: by one person attempting to keep the shuttlecock aloft as long as possible, or by two people batting it back and forth. Players who fail to hit the shuttlecock get marked on the face with India

traditional Japanese game

is a traditional Japanese game that involves splitting a watermelon with a stick while blindfolded. Played in the summertime, suikawari is most often seen at beaches, but also occurs at festivals, picnics, and other summer events.

300px|thumb|Kai-awase shells, Edo period Kai-awase (貝合わせ "shell-matching") is a Japanese game with shells, typically the shells of the hamaguri clam.

blood sport involving spiders

The beigoma (Japanese: ベーゴマ) is a traditional Japanese top that is approximately 3 cm in diameter and often decorated with kanji. When spun correctly, the beigoma makes a humming sound.

thumb|Image of doucha () by Zhao Mengfu, [[Yuan Dynasty]] is a Japanese pastime based on the identification of different types of tea. The custom originated in China where it is known as Doucha (闘茶) during the Tang dynasty, before spreading to Japan in the Kamakura period. However, whereas Chinese tea-tastings concentrated on assessing the quality of the various teas offered, tōcha became a friendly contest in which players would taste a number of cups of tea and attempt to guess the region from which the tea originated. Originally the goal was to distinguish the high-quality tea of from othe

is a Japanese game based on rock–paper–scissors. Three players compete. The host cries out "Play ball". The contestants dance to music played on the shamisen and taiko. The host chants "Runner ni nattara essassa." ("Hope the batter gets to run"). The crowd cries out "Out! Safe! Yoyonoyoi", as the three contestants show a fist, and then "Jankenpon" as they reveal the gesture they chose. Once the winner is clear, the crowd cries out "Hebo noke Hebo noke. Okawari koi" ("Losers leave, and newcomers come"). If there is a tie that needs breaking, the players shout "Aiko de bon!" ("Tie, so again!").

logic puzzle

or is a Japanese game popular during the Meiji era that is also a form of divination, partially based on Western table-turning. The name kokkuri is an onomatopoeia meaning "to nod up and down", and refers to the movement of the actual kokkuri mechanism. The kanji used to write the word is an ateji, although its characters reflect the popular belief that the movement of the mechanism is caused by supernatural agents (ko 狐, kitsune; ku 狗, dog/tengu; ri 狸, tanuki). The modern version is similar to a Ouija board.

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Irensei () is an abstract strategy board game. Traditionally, it is played using Go pieces (black and white stones) on a Go board (19x19 intersections), but any equipment suitable for playing Go can also be used for Irensei.