Co-op Kyushu Business Federation, "Co-op Kyusyu", is a federation of eight consumer co-ops in Kyushu and Okinawa. Co-op Kyusyu works to enhance the quality control of products from "production to consumption". As part of this activity, Co-op Kyushu has created a card game called "karuta". While people from the children to the elderly enjoy playing this card game, they can also learn about food hygiene management, which can be performed through the process from food purchase to cooking, eating, disposing, and storage.

"Karuta" is a traditional Japanese card game using two types of cards, letter cards and picture cards. At the first, the game master reads a letter card, and then other players compete to find out and touch the picture card that describes what the letter card just said, among the picture cards scattered around on the player's table.  A player who touches the correct card earlier than other players gets the card. Repeating this over and over, the player who gets the most cards wins the game.

Co-op Kyushu's "Karuta" which is made to learn about food hygiene, is created based on more than 200 ideas and knowledge from co-op members. The co-op members' ideas and knowledge regarding food hygiene and quality control are written in the letter card in words and drawn as pictures in the picture cards. By using Co-op Kyushu's Karuta, people can learn about these ideas and knowledge while playing the card game. The pictures above are examples of the Karuta cards.

Co-op Kyushu's Katura cards written in Japanese can be downloaded for free from the following site and are available to everyone.