The bad cards thing is real... I went the entire time getting only one pen card so no win for me... (no sheep either and had a gotten a pen the second bee - I only got two - I discarded early on to get more cards would have been absolutely necessary). The rice and wasabi were no problem, ditto stacks of money... I just couldn't get the pens for all the animals required to be penned.
(Also I'm pretty sure the game ended after three years, not four... will try again to confirm that one...)