Couple of couple of weeks ago (not a typo), I wrote a paper about research that I did for the Japanese tradition, the Hagoita. Just thought that I’d show it off! ^^; I got an A on this (37/40). Got a -3 cause I didn’t italicize the foreign (aka, Japanese) words. >.> Oh well. I know I overly used commas a lot, but it’s a habit. ^^;;
「お正月」プロジェクトの論文
Our group had the honor of studying Hagoita（はごいた、羽子板）, which are paddles, and are usually decorated. In this paper, the things to be discussed are the Hagoita itself, the people who use them, the proper customs and traditions, such as their role in Japanese culture and when they are most seen, and then how they are used.
Hagoita is a New Years tradition that has its roots in the Edo period (Tokugawa period; 1603 to 1867). Hagoita are paddles that are used in a game called Hanetsuki（はねつき）. Hanetsuki is similar to badminton. This game was played by girls during New Years, and the point of the game was to hit a shuttlecock (called hane（はね）), in which the girls use the hagoita hit the shuttlecock back at each other. If one of the girls missed, then that girl would be covered in ink. Hagoita are usually highly decorated. They can be from anywhere to famous battles and folklore, to something more “modern,” such as celebrities. Their size can range from anywhere from the size of small hand-sized to ones as big as a person.
Hanetsuki, and therefore hagoita, is a game played mostly by girls. During the Edo period, new boy girls would receive a hagoita paddle on their birth day. While it’s not uncommon to see men playing (father and son), hagoita is given to only girls. Today, they aren’t given as gifts to a new born girl, but rather bought by girls as decoration. The hanetsuki can be played by one girl (hitting the hane into the air) or by two girls (hitting the ball to each other, like badminton).
Hagoita is thought of, or seen as, good luck. The purpose is to wish good health to both the girls and to wish for protection from mosquitoes. The hane represents a mosquito, and both the girls must keep the hane from landing on her. It is said that the longer the hane stays in the air, the longer the protection from mosquitoes the girl will have throughout the year. Both players receive this good luck (but one girl receives the ink!). The reason they wanted protection from mosquitoes is self-explanatory. This became a tradition mostly because Japanese children didn’t have much toys; the hagoita was one of the few that girls got during the Edo period, and thus it soon naturally became a tradition to give one to your new born girl.
Hanetsuki is usually played at festivals in Japan. There is only one festival that practices this old tradition anymore: Hagoita Ichi (Hagoita One) Fair held in Asakusa, Tokyo. It is the only place where hagoita is sold on-masse. Up to 50 shops, with almost 300,000 people going to festival.
Traditionally, and I think it will always be done this way, hanetsuki is played on new years, or somewhere in December. A hagoita market is held every year at the Hagoita Ichi Fair from December 17th to the 19th. The tradition of hagoita started during the Edo period, around 400 years ago.
The hagoita is hand-made. Materials such as cloth, or washi（わし）, are glued onto the hagoita paddle to act as a relief. It is strictly made of wood and is then decorated with anything from Kabuki actors (this is considered the traditional way, as this is how they were originally done) to the more modern versions: actors, people on television, athletes (baseball players, etc.), anime characters, and pretty much anything else one can think of. Back during the Edo period, the hagoita was received by a girl on her birth day (when she was born; new born), and they would use it to hit the shuttlecock back in worth (like the paddle in ping-pong). Today, the hagoita can be purchased on the internet, or purchased from the Hagoita Ichi fair in Asakusa, Tokyo.
The hagoita, and the game that it’s used in, is a paddle, and is seen as good luck for the girls who play it. By playing it, they wished for good health and protection from mosquitoes for one whole year. A tradition in Japan, it’s played every year by one or two girls. By hitting the shuttlecock (hane) back to one another, they are warding off the mosquitoes they wish to stay away from.
December 14th, 2008 |