Shueisha / Shōnen Book (Japan) - Shōnen Book Playing Cards

1968

Shōnen Book Playing Cards

Shueisha / Shōnen Book / 少年ブック

Japan

53 cards (2 football)

Rare cards from Japan, featuring  the earliest football cards I am aware of from the land of the rising sun. Shōnen Book is a children's comic published by Shueisha, with the first issue published in March 1958 and continued through to April 1969. In 1968 the comic gave away a series of playing cards with the September issue. What little I know about them is included here, I've only seen spades and diamonds.

UPDATE (27-06-2025 16:26):  Tom Lawrie has provided the missing names from diamonds and spades sets, these are the only ones to feature sport. He has also provided lists for the hearts and clubs sets, so this checklist is now complete. The two cards featured above are the only footballers in the collection. Tom has also supplied photos of the box the cards came in.

A♦.  Shigeo Nagashima (Baseball)

2♦.  Keiji Suzuki (Baseball)

3♦.  Yutaka Enatsu (Baseball)

4♦.  Masaaki Koyama (Baseball)

5♦.  Kazuhiko Kondo (Baseball)

6♦.  Isao Harimoto (Baseball)

7♦.  Shiro Takegami (Baseball)

8♦.  Masaaki Ikenaga (Baseball)

9♦.  Takeshi Koba (Baseball)   -   added 27-06-2025  -  thanks to Tom Lawrie

10♦.  Tetsuya Yoneda (Baseball)

J♦.  Katsuya Nomura (Baseball)

Q♦.  Sinichi Eto (Baseball)

K♦.  Sadaharu Oh (Baseball)

A♠.  Taihō Kōki (Sumo Wrestling)

2♠.  Kunishige Kamamoto (Soccer - Yanmar Diesel)

3♠.  Ryuichi Sugiyama (Soccer - Mitsubishi Motors)

4♠.  Antonio Inoki (Wrestling)

5♠.  Toyonobori (Wrestling)   -   added 27-06-2025  -  thanks to Tom Lawrie

6♠.  Kintaro Ohki (Wrestling)   -   added 27-06-2025  -  thanks to Tom Lawrie

7♠.  Thunder Sugiyama (Wrestling)

8♠.  Shohei "Giant" Baba (Wrestling)

9♠.  Takao Sakurai (Boxing)   -   added 27-06-2025  -  thanks to Tom Lawrie

10♠.  Tamanoshima Arata (Sumo Wrestling)

J♠.  Masahiko "Fighting" Harada (Boxing)

Q♠.  Kashiwado Tsuyoshi (Sumo Wrestling)

K♠.  Takeshi Fuji (Boxing)   -   added 27-06-2025  -  thanks to Tom Lawrie

A♥.  The Tempters (Group Sounds)

2♥.  Akiko Nakamura (Singer)

3♥.  Wakako Sakai (Actress)

4♥.  Hidekazu Nagai (Singer)

5♥.  Akira Mita (Singer)

6♥.  Yukio Hashi (Singer)

7♥.  Kazuo Funaki (Singer)

8♥.  Teruhiko Saigo (Singer)

9♥.  The Wild Ones (Group Sounds)

10♥.  The Village Singers (Group Sounds)

J♥.  The Spiders (Group Sounds)

Q♥.  The Blue Comets (Group Sounds)

K♥.  The Tigers (Group Sounds)

A♠.  Conte55 (Comedians)

2♠.  Haruno TikTok (Comedians)

3♠.  Trio Skyline (Comedians)

4♠.  Drifters (Comedians)

5♠.  Ponta Tokyo (Comedian)

6♠.  Enkyo Tsukinoya (Rakugo Storyteller)

7♠.  Utayakko Sanyutei (Rakugo Storyteller)

8♠.  Kosen Yanagiya (Rakugo Storyteller)

9♠.  Nabeosami (Comedian)

10♠.  Makoto Fujita & Minoru Shiraki (Comedians)

J♠.  Kon Ohmura (comedian)

Q♠.  Mitsuteru Yokoyama (Manga Artist)

K♠.  Osamu Tezuka (Manga Artist)

Joker.  Fujio Akatsuka (Manga Artist)