Koji Furuta

Artistically this is a wonderful deck, the artist did an amazing job of translating the Western tarot into the distinct Japanese Ukiyo-e art style while incorporating elements of Japanese culture as well all without diluting the meanings of the cards.

The Major Arcana are pretty basic, direct representation of the standard tarot images and the Minor Arcana are more abstract, just using their symbolic images instead of the more illustrative ones from the SRW deck. The little booklet that comes with the deck is a special treat, instead of just giving you the standard meanings of the cards each card has a short description and history behind the Japanese culture and images as well as the standard divinatory meaning, giving additional insight to the artists intent.

The cards themselves are longer and narrower than standard and are quite easy to handle, the backs are gorgeous with a deep burgundy color decorated with fall leaves either swirling in the water or the air. The cards feel a tad flimsier than I'm used to though I think it is because they don't have a the usual glossy coating most come with, I am assuming this is to carry through the look of the Ukiyo-e printing style though this is a guess on my part.… (altro)