I thought these were probably a miniature version of a real Japanese game. However, one of my customers spent some time in Japan and told me she saw old men playing a very noisy game with these little cards.

They're made of thick plastic and measure about 2" tall. I think they're the cutest little things. You can drill holes in them for jewellery or to use as art doll torsos. They look wondeful glued to the cover of an altered book or an Oriental artist trading card. Or, how about collaging the plain, red backs, drilling holes top and bottom then hooking them together for an artsy window covering?