Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Hagoita Japanese Paddle Toy with Shuttlecock, c. 1936. |
Object Name |
Paddle, Tennis |
Description |
Hagoita Japanese Paddle Toy with Shuttlecock, c. 1936. Originally enclosed in a gray rectangular box (to be discarded) with some Japanese words/symbols in the middle of the box, this paddle toy (A) is rectangular in shape and is made of wood with a pink background painted with white and green flowers and a darkish black tree trunk with a tint of pink in it. Stitched to the top of the hagoita and the pink background with white and green flowers, there lies the face, and body of a Japanese woman clothed in a red kimono with pink and yellow flowers, little blue and dark blue hearts, and a medium sized circle with purple border, purple squiggly line in the middle, pink underneath the squiggly line with a smaller circle in green with little yellow dots. On the top of her head, there are little gray papers shaped in the form of a flower with little bamboo sticks in the center of each flower. Above her face, the Japanese woman in the kimono has black hair in a traditional Japanese hair style called sokuhatsu, which shows her hair is pushed back from her head and in a bun. The black hair appears to be made of black silk thread that extends from her head to about slightly below the ear. Her face is made of white padded cloth with the eye, nose, lips, eyebrows are painted on. The eyebrows are painted in gray with black curved lines in the middle. The Japanese woman has a pinkish color that extends underneath the eyebrows, part of the outside of her nose and part of her outside border of her eye. It is partly pink in those areas to show that she is wearing makeup. The outside of the border of her eyes is painted mostly black with a hint of pink underneath. Inside of the border of each of her eyes are two circles painted in black. The shape of her eyes are oval-shaped. Her nose is shaped much like a regular nose with a one tiny black dot signifying one of the holes in her nose. Her lips are painted pinkish red in the inside with the outside border of her lips at a darker red color. Underneath her face, she has a collar made of white silk that covers part of her neck and makes the shape of a V. Next to the collar on the left, there appears to be a two round circles made of white padded cloth with six holes on each edge of the circle. The design of the circles are of an outside border in black, an inside border of brown creating another circle inside and a whitish and pinkish color in the middle of the circle. Both circles are attached to six orange strings and are separate from each other. On the back of one of the circles, there are tiny gold specks which appears to be glued on. Below and underneath the circles, there is green silk fabric with gold painted flowers. The petals on the far left of the green silk fabric has gold petals on the outside with some white petals in the middle. Next to the flower with gold and white petals is another flower, but it has black and green petals with a golden center. Above both flowers is a gold shaped scale with each part connected by golden triangles. Next to the green and gold silk fabric and above the circles and next to both ends of the black silk thread is a gold background with red, brown and orange thread. Above the gold background with red, brown and orange thread, and underneath the two circles is a pink silk fabric that extends from the top to the bottom of the sleeve opening. Both of these pink silk fabrics has a white silk border, which one of them is the border of her kimono. Above the pink silk fabric with white silk border around her kimono is her cloth padded hand which is in white with pink circles and lines to show her fingers and fingertips. On the design of her kimono, the material of the kimono on the women appears to be silk like fabric with the pink and yellow flowers, little blue and dark blue hearts, and a medium sized circle with purple border, purple squiggly line in the middle, pink underneath the squiggly line with a smaller circle in green with little yellow dots painted on. The medium sized circle is surrounded by green leaves on each corner of the circle. On the bottom of the paddle, there appears to be a navy blue fabric that covers the wooden part of the handle and is underneath the end of the Japanese woman's kimono. Some white cotton also appears to be behind the clothed padded face of Japanese woman for decoration purposes. Also behind the clothed padded face is a bell made of silver, which makes noise when picking it up or shaking it. On the side and back of the paddle, it is made of wood, but on the back of the paddle is painted in various colors (black, orange, pink, green, yellow, brown). The painted background has two trees with black leaves, one on the top with a orange curve extending from the top middle of the paddle to the middle right corner and one of the left side of the paddle. It also has a large brown stem with pink flowers with some of them having a yellow center. The pink flowers look like cherry blossoms. The stem with pink flowers extends from the bottom right hand corner to part way through the orange curve at the top. Each flower is spaced with only some at the top, middle and bottom having one petal or two. Underneath the flowers still on the stem of the tree, there are brown bulb like shapes that look like flowers that have yet to bloom, which extend in front of the green plant shape like a fern. Next to the stem of flowers on its left and behind the brown bulb like shapes is a green plant shaped like a fern which each extends outward much like a green fern. Next to the fern on the left hand bottom corner is a stamp, in black which reads "MADE IN JAPAN". Also in the gray rectangular box is the shuttlecock (B), which made of wood, and painted in black. The shape of the shuttlecock is a little black ball. It has black round end with two white feathers and purple strings. The white feathers are connected and tied to a white string. The purple string extend outward from the top of the black shuttlecock. |
Date |
c. 1936 |
Catalog Number |
2016.003.001A-B |
Collection |
3D - Sports Equipment |
Creator |
Unknown |
Role |
Artist |
Inscription Text |
"MADE IN JAPAN" (stamped in black on the left hand bottom corner at the back of the paddle) |
Provenance |
Used by Sue Hara when she was approximately 5-10 years old and living in Stockton, CA. Searching for a home, the Haras found many places in the Bay Area closed to Japanese Americans. When the College Avenue development in San Mateo accepted them in 1953, the Haras were among several Japanese American families who purchased homes in the neighborhood. |
Notes |
"It is a game it involves players hitting badminton shuttlecocks made of soapberry seeds and bird feathers using large wooden paddles called "Hagoita". The Hagoita is usually rectangular in shape. When playing "Hanetsuki", since the Hagoita’s movement is similar to the "Harau" action (a Japanese expression meaning "drive away"), it is thought to be effective to drive away evil spirits and is thus often used as a charm against evil. In the Edo period, (1603-1868), "Oshie-Hagoita", paddles designed with images of elegantly made-up Kabuki actors, grew to become popular. The "Oshie" drawings are usually created with washi or cloth cut out in the shape of flowers and people, and then pasted onto the paddle with cottons inside them to give them a three dimensional aspect. Since the traditional "Hagoita" commonly featured portraits of famous kabuki actors, they may have been close to something like the "3D idol goods" of our time. By the turn of the 17th century, a huge variety of "Hagoita" had spread across Japan. Some high quality paddles even used gold leaf and silver foil, and so many different kinds appeared that Japan’s feudal government had to ban and impose constraints on production at one point. Then, at the start of the Meiji period, new technologies allowed the line-up of "Hagoita" to increase even more. It is said that the history of "Hagoita" in Saitama prefecture dates back to when people were encouraged to produce "Hagoita" as a side business to farming during the off-season in the Edo period. In many cases, one kabuki actor drawn to protrude significantly from the paddle is called "Hitori-dachi". If the Hagoita features two actors, it is called "Futari-dachi". Although this is very rare, when five actors are featured on a battle, they call it "Gonin-dachi". Both men and women get drawn on Hagoita, but the kabuki actors are all men. If women are drawn, they play the role of a "female impersonator (Oyama)". Hagoita on which men are drawn are considered to be a lucky charm to shake off economic recession. On the other hand, women are portrayed, to represent the celebration of a new-born baby girl." [http://japan-brand.jnto.go.jp/crafts/woodcraft/41/-10/24/2016] |
Dimensions |
H-16.25 W-5.5 D-0.5 inches |
Dimension Details |
(B) 2.5 x 0.5 |
Search Terms |
Japanese Japanese Americans Paddle, Wooden San Mateo Toy Toys |
Subjects |
Japanese language San Mateo Toys |
Credit line |
Courtesy of Sue Hara |