About This Print
The artist's rendering of the annual three-day Battledore Fair that takes place each year in Asakusa starting on December 17. Koga gives us a view of the bottom tiers of the Five Story Pagoda of Sensoji, the stalls selling hagoita 羽子板 and the crowds.
This print was one of twenty five included in a portfolio of woodblock prints (see portfolio cover below) titled Lyricism of Shitamachi 下町抒情 published by Han no kai, the print society formed by Tadashige Ono (1909-1990) to encourage and support young artists. Tadashige contributed three prints to the portfolio and twenty-one other little-known artists contributed prints.
Shitamachi was the name used to designate Tokyo's "low city," an area associated with the common people before the war. In post-war terminology it designates everything east of the Imperial Palace. It is also used more generically to refer to those areas of modern Tokyo that maintain the flavor of the old city.
Hagoita Ichi (The Battledore Fair)
Source: website of the Japanese National Tourist Organization (JNTO) https://www.jnto.go.jp/ph/spot-activity/kanto/tokyo/asakusa/hagoita-ichi/
The Hagoita Ichi Fair happens yearly in Asakusa [from December 17-19]. Hagoita are rectangular bats [battledores] used in playing hanetsuki–a traditional New Year’s game similar to badminton. The bats sold at the market are distinctive, as they are purely ornamental good luck charms. Each are decorated by hand using lacquer, embroidery, or silk cloth.
The traditional versions of hagoita feature handsome kabuki actors and elegant beauties, but there are also some decorated with images of popular celebrities, sumo wrestlers, athletes, and cartoon characters. They are available in different sizes, from couple centimeters long to over one meter in length.
The hagoita were originally used in playing the traditional New Year game hanetsuki. It was a popular game among the girls during the Edo era. The origins of Hagoita Ichi came from the custom of giving a hagoita for the healthy growth of girls. The hagoita are used as a “board to bounce back evil.”
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2005 |
| Title | Asakusa Hagoitai shi 浅草羽子板市 |
| Series | from the portfolio Downtown Lyricism, Collection of Woodblock Prints 版画集 下町抒情 |
| Artist | Koga Misao (act. c. 1980s) |
| Signature |  Misao Koga in pencil |
| Seal |  |
| Publication Date | 1986 |
| Publisher | 版の会発行 han no kai hakkō |
| Printer | self-printed |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | excellent - tipped to original paper as found in portfolio |
| Genre | sosaku-hanga (creative print) |
| Miscellaneous | mounted to its original backing sheet from the portfolio |
| Format | chuban |
| H x W Paper | 8 x 9 13/16 in. (20.3 x 24.9 cm) |
| H x W Image | 7 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (18.3 x 23.5 cm) |
| Collections This Print | |
| Reference Literature |
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