At present, a whole tanka (thirty-one syllables arranged as 5-7-5-7-7) is written on each yomi-fuda, however, until the end of the Edo period, a poet's name and only ue-no-ku (the first phrase, the second phrase, and the third phrase) was written on each yomi-fuda, and on each tori-fuda, only shimo-no-ku (the forth phrase and the fifth phrase) in hiragana characters of kuzushi-ji (cursive hand) was written.
江戸期までの百人一首は、読み札には作者名と上の句のみが、取り札には下の句が、崩し字で書かれており、現在のように読み札に一首すべてが記されていることはなかった。