also: チーハー · チーパー
noun
chee fah; chiffa; Chinese lottery game
Historical Chinese gambling game where players buy a sheet with 36 words and guess the dealer's chosen word. The term is a loanword from Chinese 'zìhuá'.
from Chinese zìhuá
チーハは、かつて中国で流行した賭博の一種だ。
Chee fah is a type of gambling that was once popular in China.
彼はチーハで大金を失ったという。
They say he lost a fortune playing chee fah.
Borrowed from Chinese 'zìhuá' (字花), referring to a historical lottery game. The exact derivation is uncertain; the Japanese forms reflect approximate phonetic adaptation.