Although their origin story is much more complex, one could simply state that hanafuda cards were first developed in Japan a couple of hundred years ago and are a take on western style decks. Here are a few videos on some games one could play with them:
This video offers some historic insight:
Of course, you should try to get your hands on this great 5-part documentary on Nintendo called Playing with Power. Nintendo was founded in the late 19th century and started as a printer of hanafuda cards. Here is the trailer to this :