Hagoita - Hagoita

A toy for girls during the New Year. A board with a rectangular handle used for playing shuttlecock. The first document is said to be in the "Kagakushu" (Gegakushu), published in 1444 (Bun'an 1) during the Muromachi period, which states, "Hagoita (battledore) is used during the New Year." The "Setsuyoshu" (Setsuyoshu), published during the Meiō period (1492-1501), then states, "Hagoita, Kogiitago," and the board was also called Hagoita or Kogiita. The feathers are made by attaching feathers to soapberry seeds to resemble dragonflies that eat mosquitoes, and it is said that shuttlecock originated as a spell to repel mosquitoes and ward off illnesses in children. The feathers are called koginoko, and in "Segenmondo" (Questions and Answers on Worldly Proverbs) (supplemented by Ichijo Kanefuyu) published in 1544 (Tenbun 13), it is written, "This is a spell that young children use to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. At the beginning of autumn, a type of insect called a dragonfly comes out and catches mosquitoes. The koginoko is made from a wooden gnome with a dragonfly-like head and wings attached, and when you hit it with a stick, it looks like a dragonfly's wings when you jump. So, to scare off the mosquitoes, you hit them with the koginoko," and this is called koginoko asobi. The entry for January 5, 1432 (Eikyou 4) in the "Kanmon Gyoki" (the diary of Gosukoin), which records the imperial court events of the time, states that nobles and court ladies divided into men's and women's teams and played a shuttlecock game. Although it was a New Year's game at the imperial court, the koki board was not only used as a toy. There is also a theory that it was linked to the fire festival Sagicho, a New Year's imperial court event that was introduced from China during the Heian period, and that it was thrown into the fire during this event, like other auspicious writings and folding fans, as a way to ward off evil spirits in the new year. Therefore, it is said to have been a simple scepter-shaped item with merely crudely painted celebratory designs.

The game of shuttlecock became popular after the Genroku period (1688-1704) of the Edo period, and in "Seken Mune Sanyo" (written by Ihara Saikaku) published in 1692 (Genroku 5), there is a depiction of a New Year's market on a major street in the booming city of Edo, where shuttlecocks, a specialty of Kyoto, are being sold alongside New Year's toys. Kyoto-made shuttlecocks have a long history, and Kyoto shuttlecocks are considered to be representative of high-quality shuttlecocks. From the mid-Edo period, they came to be called shuttlecocks or hagoita. As the design depicts the Sagicho New Year's event in imitation of the old style, they were also called Sagicho shuttlecocks. The board is painted with gofun (whitewash) and is painted in vivid colors, depicting men and women in noble attire watching the Sagicho event from the Imperial Palace, and this style can still be found in some of the traditional local hagoita from around the country. Hagoita subsequently developed, with more varied designs appearing, such as designs depicting the first sunrise, cranes and turtles, treasures, and birds and flowers, and luxurious high-end items similar to the Sagicho hagoita were also made. During the Bunka and Bunsei eras (1804-1830), pressed-paper hagoita, which were popular at the time, appeared. Flowers, birds, and the faces of popular actors were also depicted, and hagoita markets selling these began to be held at the end of the year. After the Meiji period, in addition to pressed-paper items, techniques such as burned-paper hagoita made with an electric iron, or painted with paint, were also adopted. Currently, in addition to being used as decorative shuttlecocks for the New Year, there are also some that are used as sports equipment and for casual play, but their magical meaning has been lost.

[Ryosuke Saito]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

女の子の正月の遊び道具。羽根突き遊びに用いる長方形の柄(え)のついた板。室町時代1444年（文安1）刊の『下学集(かがくしゅう)』に、「羽子板(ハゴイタ)正月ニ　之ヲ用フ」とあるのが最初の文献といわれる。続いて江戸時代、明応(めいおう)年間（1492～1501）刊の『節用集(せつようしゅう)』には、「羽子板、胡鬼板子(こぎいたご)」とあり、羽子板あるいは胡鬼板ともよばれていた。羽根はムクロジの種子に羽根をつけ、蚊(か)を食うトンボに似せたもので、蚊退治、子供の厄病除(よ)けのまじないとして羽根突きをしたのがそのおこりともいう。羽根を胡鬼子(こぎのこ)といい、1544年（天文13）刊の『世諺問答(せげんもんどう)』（一条兼冬補）に、「これはおさなきものの、蚊にくはれぬまじなひ事なり、秋のはじめに蜻蛉(とんばう)といふむし出きては、蚊をとりくふ物なり、こきのこといふは、木連子(むくろじ)などを、とんばうがしらにして、はねをつけたり、これをいたにてつきあぐれば、おつる時とんばうがへりのやうなり、さて蚊をおそれしめんために、こきのことてつき侍(はべ)るなり」とあり、これを胡鬼子遊びといった。当時の宮中行事を記録した『看聞御記(かんもんぎょき)』（後崇光院(ごすこういん)の日記）の永享(えいきょう)4年（1432）正月5日の条に、公家(くげ)、女官たちが男組、女組に分かれて、胡鬼子（羽根突き）勝負を行ったことが記されている。宮中の正月遊びであったが、胡鬼板は遊具として用いられただけではない。平安時代に中国から渡来した、正月の宮中行事の火祭り左義長(さぎちょう)と結び付き、迎春厄除(やくよ)けの意味で、ほかの吉書(きっしょ)や扇子と同様にこの行事で火中に投ぜられたという説もある。したがって形も簡素な笏(しゃく)形で、慶祝的な図柄などを粗雑に描いた程度のものといわれる。

　羽根突き遊びが盛んになったのは江戸時代の元禄(げんろく)（1688～1704）以降で、1692年（元禄5）刊の『世間胸算用(むねさんよう)』（井原西鶴(さいかく)著）には、新興都市江戸の大通り筋の年の市で、正月用の玩具(がんぐ)類とともに京都特産の羽子板が売り出されている情景が描かれている。京都産の羽子板は古い歴史をもち、京羽子板は上製羽子板の代表的作品とされていた。江戸中期から羽子あるいは羽子板とよばれるようになった。図柄に古式に倣って正月行事の左義長風景を描いたので、左義長羽子板ともいわれた。板の表に胡粉(ごふん)を塗り盛り上げた極彩色で、公卿(くぎょう)装束の男女が宮中御殿から左義長行事を見物する図を描いたもので、この系統は各地の伝承的な郷土羽子板の一部にその名残(なごり)をとどめている。その後羽子板は発達して、初日の出、鶴亀(つるかめ)、宝尽くし、花鳥など変化に富んだものが現れ、左義長羽子板に準じて豪華な高級品もつくられた。文化・文政(ぶんかぶんせい)（1804～30）のころには当時流行の押し絵羽子板が登場。花、鳥、人気役者の顔も絵になり、これを売り出す羽子板市が歳末に開かれるようになった。明治以後には押し絵物のほか、電気ごてを使用する焼き絵羽子板、あるいは絵の具で彩色したものなどの技法も取り入れられた。現在、正月の飾り羽子板として用いられるほかに、運動用具的なもの、軽便な遊戯用のものなどがあるが、まじない的な意味は失われている。

［斎藤良輔］

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