Tradition: Japanese mythology
Alternative Names: Robai, Lojay
Category: Dragon
The Myth
Rohai is a dragon depicted on the traditional Japanese card game Unsun Karuta. The creature appears as a dragon entwined around or holding a symbol, sometimes with wing-like forms or flames rising from its body like wings. It is a distinctly dragon-like figure, separate from the numbered cards and from the other human and divine figures represented in the deck.
Unsun Karuta developed from Portuguese playing cards introduced to Japan during the late 16th century. The Portuguese cards originally had four suits, but the Japanese game developed five suits and a much larger collection of cards, including figures such as Daikoku, Daruma, Hotei, Ebisu, Fukurokuju, a Chinese man, a queen, a king, and a mounted warrior. Rohai represented the dragon among these figures.
Rohai was also called an insect, and was described as being like a flying dragon. Its origins are connected to the dragon cards found in early Portuguese playing cards, where dragons were traditionally used for the aces of the suits. As the cards spread through Portuguese trading ports and settlements, dragon imagery travelled with them and eventually became part of the Japanese card tradition.
In Unsun Karuta, however, Rohai was not simply the ace card. It became its own distinct dragon figure. Some surviving depictions preserve the appearance of a Western dragon, particularly through the wing-like shapes and flames rising from the creature’s body.
Sources
Takahashi, Toshihiro. “鷺龍 [ろうりゅう] (Rōryū).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). October 21, 2024. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1083031467.html