Bamboo dragonfly - Taketombo

Japanese: 竹とんぼ - たけとんぼ

A type of bamboo craft, a children's toy. There are two aspects to the game: the creative aspect of making the bamboo dragonfly, and the aspect of flying it and competing to see who can fly it the highest and the longest. To make it, a piece of bamboo is split into a length of about 10 cm and a width of about 1.5 to 2 cm, which is then thinly carved into a propeller shape while taking into consideration the balance between the left and right sides to make the wings. The axle is about 1.5 times the length of the wing, carved into a thin round shape, and inserted at a right angle into the center of the wing. This is a typical bamboo dragonfly. Other versions have two holes drilled in the center of the wing, one on the left and one on the right, and the tip of the axle is forked and inserted into the holes, rotating the axle to fly the wings alone. There are also versions where a bamboo support for the axle is made, and a string wrapped around the axle is pulled to rotate the axle and fly the wings alone.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

竹細工の一種で，子どもの遊び具の一つ。遊びには，竹とんぼを作る創作の面と，それを飛ばし合って高さや滞空時間を競うという2面がある。作り方は，長さ10cm，幅1.5～2cmくらいに割った竹を，左右のバランスを配慮しながらプロペラ形に薄く削り，翼の部分とする。心棒は翼に対して1.5倍くらいの長さにし，丸細く削って翼の中心部に直角にさす。これが一般的な竹とんぼである。そのほか，翼の中心に左右二つの穴をあけ，心棒の先端をふたまたにしてその穴に入れ，心棒を回転させて翼だけを飛ばすもの，心棒の受け竹を作り，心棒に巻きつけた糸を引くことによって心棒を回転させ，翼だけを飛ばすようにくふうしたものもある。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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