First Month: Oibane (1898)

This triptych, created by Miyagawa Shuntei in 1898 (Meiji 31), depicts a group of women playing Hanetsuki, also called Oibane, a game similar to badminton, but without a net. Players use a wooden paddle (hagoita) and shuttlecock (hane) traditionally made from a hardened soapberry and some feathers. The game was primarily played by girls and women during New Year celebrations. The goal of the game is to keep the shuttlecock aloft as long as possible, and those who fail are marked on the face with ink. The game is over once one of the players’ faces is completely covered in ink. The longer the hane is kept in the air, the more luck the players will have in the coming year. While the game is no longer popular in Japan today, ornamental hagoita are sold as souvenirs. 

The New Year celebration is one of the most important in Japanese culture and is generally celebrated over a period of five days (from December 31 to January 4). Beginning on December 31, bells in Buddhist temples are rung 108 times to wash one’s sins clean from the previous year. People then celebrate with festive food and drink, arts, and games. Two of the most important parts of the New Year celebrations are Hatsumode - the first visit of the year to a Shinto shrine - and the sending of postcards to family and friends, similar to the way many Americans send Christmas cards. While playing hanetsuki is no longer widely practiced, a few holdovers from traditional New Year celebrations include haiku recitation and the practice of “Little New Year” which is celebrated on the first full moon of the new year. 

First Month: Oibane (left panel)

by Miyagawa Shuntei

First Month: Oibane (center panel)

by Miyagawa Shuntei

First Month: Oibane (right panel)

by Miyagawa Shuntei