by the war and began working to support them. Under orders of The Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, schools had stopped teaching geography and history. Urano, who loved Gunma dearly, wanted the children to take pride in their local history and culture. It was under those circumstances that on July 15, 1946, Urano met Seiki Suda, a devout Christian priest, at a conference in neighboring city Annaka. Together, Urano and Suda came up with the idea of promoting Gunma's history and culture through the game of karuta. On January 11, 1947, The Jomo Shimbun newspaper ran an ad announcing the concept and asked for submissions for possible card ideas. A committee of 18 local historians and figures of cultural importance were gathered to select the winning 44 cards as well as design the artwork and content of each one. 12,000 copies were sold during the initial release. The first annual Jomo karuta competition was then held in 1948. An official English version was first released in 1994, followed with a re-release in 2020. Cards Because the purpose of the game was to teach children about the history and culture of Gunma, each card represents something or someone of local importance. On the front of each yomifuda (the card that is read aloud) is a short proverb related to the card's topic, and on the back is a longer description of its significance. There were many historical figures whose names were submitted for possible card entries, and most are still used to this day. However, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers took issue with several of the cards, citing that the people featured had had problematic philosophies and criminal backgrounds. Those same cards were subsequently discarded from the game. Main cities located throughout Gunma are featured, as well as famous nature and sightseeing spots around the Prefecture. Cities include Maebashi, Takasaki, Kiryu, Isesaki, and Ota. In addition, Gunma's three famous mountains (Mt. Akagi, Mt. Haruna, and Mt. Myogi), nationally famous onsen (Kusatsu, Ikaho, and Shima), and local shrines and specialty food products are also included. Card list Official rules In tournaments, there are options to play singles or in teams of three. Set up Players sit on the floor facing each other and do a quick bout of rock-paper-scissors; when playing in teams, the person sitting in the middle is the one who does rock-paper-scissors. The winning side is