Marbles - Bi-dama

A type of glass toy. "B" is an abbreviation of "vidro," which means glass in Portuguese, and refers to glass beads. They were also called "ramune balls" because they were used as the inner lids inside bottles of the soft drink ramune (lemonade), which was manufactured from the mid-Meiji period. Children play with them by holding them between their fingers from a certain distance and flicking them forward, or by throwing them to hit the other person's balls. They are sold as small toys, but as they were used for gambling, they were banned in elementary schools during their popularity, along with menko and beigoma games.

[Ryosuke Saito]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ガラス製玩具(がんぐ)の一種。ビーはポルトガル語でガラスの意をもつビードロvidroの略で、ガラス玉のこと。明治中期から製造された清涼飲料水のラムネ（レモネード）の瓶内の中蓋(なかぶた)用にこれが用いられたので、ラムネ玉ともよばれた。子供たちの間では、これを一定の距離から指に挟んで前方にはじき出すようにしたり、投げたりして相手の玉に当てる遊びがみられる。小物玩具として売られているが、賭(か)け事遊びとして、その流行期にはめんこ、べいごま遊びなどとともに小学校で禁止されたりした。

［斎藤良輔］

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