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Shells for shell matching games. In the Heian period, aristocratic ladies
amused themselves with a game in which scenes from the famous novel The
Tale of Genji were painted in bright colors and gold on the insides of seashells.
Each of 180 pictures was duplicated to make a complete set of 360 shells.
Half of these were arranged before the players, while the other 180 were
dealt out. The point was to match the dealt shells with the ones set out.
Those shown here are modern reproductions in ancient style.
One-hundred-poets cards. The deck consists of cards with one tanka poem
each by a group of one hundred famous poets from ancient times down to the
Kamakura period. The cards are spread out regularly on the tatami floor,
and while one person reads the poems aloud, one by one, the players try
to identify the card bearing the poem being read and to snap it up in their
hands as quickly as possible. This game is particularly popular at New Year's.
The cards shown here are form the temple Hokke-ji, in Nara.
Hagoita, or battledore, for the game of battledore and shuttlecock, traditionally
played at New Year's. Hagoita for ornamental purposes are often of tremendous
size, and the practice of decorating them with raised figures of famous
people by using cardboard, cotton padding, and a silk covering is thought
to have developed in the period between 1804 and 1830.
Tako, or kites. The kite, imported from China, was popular with aristocrats
and samurai during the Kamakura period (1185-1336), but during the Edo period
(1603-1868) it was enjoyed mostly by ordinary people. Kites come in many
forms and are decorated in countless ways.
Palace dolls for Girls' Day. Dolls of this type, traditionally costumed
in the court style of the Heian period (794-1185), are made in a number
fo styles and sizes. They are displayed by families with small daughters
on March 3. A full set of dolls may include, in addition to the ruler and
his lady, many courtiers and ladies-in-waiting as well as miature articles
of furnitre and even food and drink, all arranged on a tiered platform covered
with a bright-red cloth. According to a tradition that is still older than
that of displaying such dolls, paper figures of ancient palace personalities
are floated on streams in celebration of the holiday. This custom is thought
to have originated in Heian times.
