The story
From Japanese 花(はな)札(ふだ) (hanafuda), a compound of 花 (hana, “flower”) + 札 (fuda, “card”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
hanafuda
Today it means: Small, rigid Japanese playing cards with colorful drawings of flowers and animals, a single deck consisting of 48 cards divided in 12 suits that each represent a month. Full definition →