Hanetsuki is a Japanese traditional game, similar to badminton except there is no net, and is played with a rectangular wooden paddle, called a hagoita, and a brightly-coloured shuttlecock called hane.
Often played by girls during the New Year, the game can be played in two fashions, by one person attempting to keep the shuttlecock aloft as long as possible, or by the two people batting it back and forth. Girls who fail to hit the shuttlecock get marked on the face with India ink. Traditionally, the longer the shuttlecock remains in the air, the greater protection from mosquitoes the players will receive during the coming year.
The game was already played by aristocrats during Muromachi period but has been generalized among population since the end of Edo period. Hanetsuki was greatly played during a New Year festival until recently.
The popularity of hanetsuki has waned in the past century, and now the paddles are largely appreciated more for their artistic beauty, rather than their use in play.
The hagoita is made of wood, a wooden paddle-like bat abd the shuttlecock is made with soapberry seed and feathers.
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