Kendama
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A kendama (けん玉 , also written as 剣玉 and 拳玉) is a Japanese toy that consists of a hammer-like object with a ball connected to it by a string.
Kendama play consists of catching and spearing the ball in various ways or performing various juggles, balances or position sequences. A book published by the Japan Kendama Association describes 100 "wazas" and an article in a JKA publication diagrams over 2,000. A Japanese maker of competition kendamas says that 30,000 exist.
Most people play with kendamas for personal satisfaction, but competitions take place, especially in Japan, in which lists of wazas must be performed in sequence, wazas must be performed repeatedly for as long as possible or wazas must be performed head to head with a rival until one fails to complete a waza.
The game is known by many names around the world, including ring and pin, cup and ball, bilboquet, and balero.
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[edit] Parts of a Kendama
The ball—called a tama (玉)—has a hole in it, and it rests on a spike (the ken) on the top of the kendama. The hammer-shaped handle is called the ken (剣, lit. "sword"). The two extending sides of the ken are concave cups; one is smaller than the other. The larger cup is called the ōzara (大皿, lit. "large dish") and the smaller cup is called the kozara (小皿, lit. "small dish"). There is also an even smaller cup called the chūzara (中皿, lit. "middle dish") at the bottom of the handle.
The 3-cup kendama design dates back to design patent obtained in the early 20th century, but the current form of Japanese kendamas was set in the mid 1970s when a nonprofit organization was established to preserve and promote the toy.
[edit] Origins and history
The origins of the game are obscure. It may have been invented independently in multiple places, or it may have spread around via international commerce. It is known in places as diverse as the Arctic, France, and Peru. The French game is called bilboquet which was played as early as the 16th century.[1]
The game was popular in the royal courts of Europe, where players caught a swinging ball in a cup at the end of the handle. In North America, the game was both a child's toy and a gambling mechanism for adults, and involved catching a ring rather than a ball. In some native American tribes it was even a courtship device, where suitors would challenge the objects of their interest to a polite game of ring and pin. The Mohave variant of the game included up to 17 extra rings attached to the cord, and game scoring involved differing point values assigned to different rings.[1]
Other variants include those played by the Inuit of what is now Labrador, with a rabbit's skull in place of the ball, with extra holes bored into it, which had to be caught on the handle like a skewer; and those that used balls of grass or animal hair.[1]
This game was also popular in England during the early 1800s, as Jane Austen is reputed to have excelled while entertaining her brother's son in a game called bilbocatch.
[edit] In popular culture
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- In the Japan-only video game Tomato Adventure, a "Gimmick" (or weapon) known as Kaokenken (かおケンケン, lit. "noisy face") is based on a kendama.
- In the video game Tales of Symphonia, the character Genis Sage uses a kendama as a weapon. As the game progresses, more kendamas can be bought, although they begin to look more like actual weapons because of added spikes on some of them. Random dialogues between him and other characters in the game deal with him showing the others how to play with it as a toy, usually with the unfortunate consequence of hitting his sister Raine in the head with it.
- A kendama is also used as a weapon by Oichi in the game Samurai Warriors. She sometimes throws the "hammer".
- A kendama is also used as a weapon by Ginta Toramizu in the manga/anime Marchen Awakens Romance, this kendama is a talking kendama named Babbo.
- A kendama is the weapon of choice of Gan-chan in the anime series Yatterman.
- A kendama is also carried, and occasionally used as a weapon, by Sarutobi Sasuke in the anime/manga "Samurai Deeper Kyo".
- A kendama is the subject of the Jam Films contribution by Shinohara Tetsuo, "Kendama".
- Shippo has one in Inuyasha that he uses to attack by increasing its size.
- A kendama is the weapon of one of the beaver demihuman siblings, Meroon, in the game Suikoden V. It's called Mallet and Ball in the U.S. version.
- A kendama is given to Himeno in Pretear -The New Legend of Snow White.
- In the "Town" area in We Love Katamari, a few kendama can be found in the street.
- The Machine Beast NiseKendamaRobo in Chouriki Sentai Ohranger resembles a kendama.
- A Karakuri ball combo in Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger was inspired by a kendama, when Oboro's robots were playing with the toy.
- In the last episode of Hana Yori Dango Season 1, Makino Tsukushi plays kendama in front of four little kids.
- In the anime Pretear, Hayate uses it to test the concentration of Himeno.
- Near the end of the anime, Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi, Tina Foster plays with one at home after returning to the States.
- The 37th episode of Gintama featured Santa Claus, wherein the toys that he only brought to be given to the children were kendama.
- In Unbeatable Banzuke, there's a game called Extra Kendama, the objective is to get the ball in the large cup, small cup, and the spike in 60 seconds while using a giant kendama.
[edit] Kendama organizations
- Japan Kendama Association, Japan
- British Kendama Association
- Balero Players’ Association – International, United States
- Federacion Internacional de Balero , Mexico
- Fédération Internationale de Bilboquet, France
[edit] Footnotes
- ^N1 Chuzara of kendama with traditional, authentic or approved by Japan Kendama Association is the smallest among dishes.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Andrew Leibs (2004). Sports and Games of the Renaissance. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 84,147–148. ISBN 0313327726.
- ^ Woodrow A (1993) (in French). La femme bilboquet: biographie de Mauricia de Thiers. Paris: Editions du Félin. ISBN 2866451430.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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This article's external links may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links. (June 2009) |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kendama |
- Japan Kendama Association
- Kendama.Org: English kendama history and a description of the JKA competition kendama
- British Kendama Association
- Guy's guide to Kendama
- The Bilboquet game - Physical simulation
- Balero Players’ Association – International
- Bilboquet: Cup and Ball or Ring and Pin Games
