Noun
obake (plural obake)
A ghost or apparition in Japanese folklore.
Each card in the deck features a hiragana syllable and a creature from Japanese mythology ; in fact, obake karuta means ghost cards or monster cards. Source: Internet
Even more closely, obake karuta resembles the Yu-Gi-Oh! Source: Internet
Obake karuta is an early example of the common Japanese fascination with classifying monsters and creating new ones. Source: Internet
Obake karuta Obake karuta (monster cards), c. early 19th century. Source: Internet