Japanese Traditional Games: Kendama, Koma, Otedama and More

Japan's traditional games are called mukashi asobi (昔遊び), old-time play. The best known are kendama (a cup-and-ball toy), koma (spinning tops), otedama (beanbag juggling), takoage (kite flying) and the playground game Daruma-san ga koronda.

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What you need to know

Japanese Traditional Games: Kendama, Koma, Otedama and More

These toys need no batteries and almost no words, which is exactly why they suit a learner. A child or a grandparent can show you what to do, and the Japanese you need is a handful of easy verbs: mawasu, to spin, tobasu, to send flying, ageru, to raise. This guide names the parts of a kendama and its first trick, walks through the indoor classics and the games of New Year, explains the chant in Japan's version of Red Light, Green Light, and sorts out which verb goes with which toy. It ends with ideas for where a traveller can try them and the phrases for asking to have a go.

Mukashi asobi means old-time games; many children still learn them

A kendama has a ken, three sara cups and a tama; start with ōzara

Each toy has its verb: koma o mawasu, tako o ageru

Daruma-san ga koronda is a ten-beat chant used as a count to ten

What mukashi asobi are

Mukashi (昔) means long ago and asobi (遊び) means play. The phrase covers the toys and playground games that Japanese grandparents grew up with. They have not disappeared: many elementary schools invite older neighbours in to teach them, and they come out in force at New Year.

For a learner they are a gift. The rules fit in one sentence, people of any age are happy to demonstrate, and each toy comes with one clear verb.

Four picture cards of traditional Japanese toys and games: kendama, spinning top, beanbag juggling and kite flying.
Four classics of old-time play: catch the ball, spin the top, juggle the bags, fly the kite.
JapaneseRomajiMeaning
けん玉kendamacup-and-ball toy
こまkomaspinning top
お手玉otedamabeanbag juggling
凧揚げtakoagekite flying
昔遊びmukashi asobiold-time games
一緒に遊びましょう。Issho ni asobimashō.Let's play together.

Kendama: the parts and your first trick

A kendama is a wooden handle with a spike and three cups, joined by a string to a ball with a hole in it. The handle is the ken (けん). The cups are called sara (皿), literally plates. The ball is the tama (玉).

The first trick everyone learns is ōzara: swing the ball straight up and catch it on the big cup, bending your knees as it lands. Then come the small cup, the base cup, and tomeken, catching the ball's hole on the spike. In the rhythm trick called moshikame, the ball hops back and forth between the big cup and the base cup, traditionally to a children's song about a hare and a tortoise.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
大皿ōzarabig cup; also the first trick
小皿kozarasmall cup
中皿chūzarabase cup
けん先kensakithe spike
とめけんtomekencatching the ball on the spike
大皿に乗りました。Ōzara ni norimashita.It landed on the big cup.

Indoor classics: koma, otedama, ayatori, menko

A koma (こま) is a wooden top. You wind a cord around it, throw, and pull: koma o mawasu. Otedama (お手玉) are small cloth bags, traditionally filled with dried beans, that you toss and catch two or three at a time, often while singing. Ayatori (あやとり) is making string figures on your fingers, alone or by passing the string to a partner. Menko (めんこ) are thick cards: you slap yours onto the ground to flip your opponent's card over, and you keep the ones you flip.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
こまを回します。Koma o mawashimasu.I spin a top.
お手玉をします。Otedama o shimasu.I play with beanbags.
あやとりayatoristring figures, cat's cradle
めんこmenkoslap-down card game
おはじきohajikiflicking small glass discs
竹とんぼを飛ばします。Taketonbo o tobashimasu.I fly a bamboo propeller.

A taketonbo (竹とんぼ), literally bamboo dragonfly, is a propeller on a thin stick. Roll the stick fast between your palms, let go, and it climbs into the air.

New Year games: hanetsuki and takoage

New Year, oshōgatsu (お正月), is the high season for old games. Hanetsuki (羽根つき) is played with a wooden paddle, the hagoita (羽子板), and a feathered shuttle, the hane. There is no net; you simply keep the shuttle in the air. By tradition the player who drops it gets a mark of black ink on the face. Decorated hagoita are also sold as lucky ornaments at year-end markets.

Takoage (凧揚げ) is kite flying. The kite is a tako, and the verb is ageru (揚げる), to raise. Indoors, families bring out karuta cards, the board game sugoroku and fukuwarai, in which a blindfolded player places eyes, nose and mouth on a blank face and everyone laughs at the result.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
羽根つきhanetsukipaddle and shuttle game
羽子板hagoitawooden paddle
凧を揚げます。Tako o agemasu.I fly a kite.
福笑いfukuwaraiblindfold face-making game

Daruma-san ga koronda: Japan's Red Light, Green Light

One player is the oni (鬼), the one who is it. The oni faces a wall or a tree, covers their eyes and calls out Daruma-san ga koronda, the daruma fell over. While the chant lasts, everyone else creeps forward. On the last syllable the oni spins around, and anyone caught moving is out or has to join hands with the oni.

The chant is not really about a doll. Written in kana, だるまさんがころんだ has exactly ten characters, so saying it is a quick way to count to ten, and the oni can stretch it or rattle it off to trick the others. Other regions have their own ten-beat chants. Koronda is the plain past form of korobu, to fall over.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
だるまさんが転んだDaruma-san ga korondaThe daruma fell over.
鬼onithe player who is it
動いた！Ugoita!You moved!
もう一回やりましょう。Mō ikkai yarimashō.Let's play once more.

One verb for each toy

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
回すmawasuto spin, to turn
飛ばすtobasuto send flying
揚げるageruto raise, to fly a kite
取るtoruto take, to catch
投げるnageruto throw
つくtsukuto hit, to bounce

Mawasu goes with tops. Tobasu goes with a taketonbo or a paper plane. Ageru is for kites. Toru is the verb of ayatori, where you take the string from your partner's hands, and of karuta, where you take the card. Nageru is for beanbags, and tsuku is for the shuttle in hanetsuki and for bouncing a ball.

When you do not know the special verb, two general patterns always work: the name plus o suru, as in kendama o suru, or the name plus de asobu, to play with it.

Where travellers can try them, and what to say

Look for a table of old toys at local history museums and open-air folk museums, in the lobbies of some inns, and at New Year events in shopping streets and parks. Toy shops and souvenir shops sell kendama and tops, which are light, sturdy presents. If someone is playing, it is fine to ask for a turn.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
やってみてもいいですか。Yatte mite mo ii desu ka.May I have a try?
やり方を教えてください。Yarikata o oshiete kudasai.Please show me how to do it.
難しいですね。Muzukashii desu ne.It's hard, isn't it?
できました！Dekimashita!I did it!
上手ですね。Jōzu desu ne.You're good at it.
子供のころ、何で遊びましたか。Kodomo no koro, nani de asobimashita ka.What did you play with as a child?

The last question is a reliable conversation starter with older people, who often answer by picking up the toy and showing you.

Key points

A practical way to improve

Games give you a reason to speak while your hands are busy. First, pick up any object and narrate in Japanese as if it were a toy: mawashimasu, tobashimasu, agemasu, torimasu. Second, say Daruma-san ga koronda ten times, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, keeping all ten beats even; the mora-timing scores in Unihongo's pronunciation lab train the same steady rhythm. Third, in the immersive 3D classroom, ask your AI Sensei to play a volunteer at a folk museum who is showing visitors a kendama: ask to try, ask how to do it, react when you fail and when you succeed. Then read the session report and check your corrections.

  1. 1

    Choose one clear goal

    Focus each session on a situation or skill you can actually use.

  2. 2

    Practice actively

    Say complete answers aloud instead of only reading or recognizing Japanese.

  3. 3

    Review and repeat

    Keep useful corrections and revisit the same skill until it feels natural.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does mukashi asobi mean?

Mukashi asobi (昔遊び) means old-time games: mukashi is long ago and asobi is play. It covers the toys and games children played before video games, such as kendama, spinning tops, beanbags, string figures and kites. Many schools and community centres still teach them.

What are the parts of a kendama called?

The handle is the ken, and its pointed tip is the kensaki. The three cups are sara, literally plates: the big cup is ōzara, the small cup is kozara and the cup at the base is chūzara. The ball is the tama and the string is the ito.

What is Daruma-san ga koronda?

It is the Japanese version of Red Light, Green Light. One player faces a wall and calls out Daruma-san ga koronda, the daruma fell over, while the others creep closer. When the chant ends the caller turns around, and anyone seen moving is caught.

What games do Japanese children play at New Year?

The classic New Year games are takoage, kite flying, koma, spinning tops, and hanetsuki, a paddle game like badminton without a net. Indoors, families play karuta card games, the board game sugoroku and fukuwarai, where a blindfolded player arranges a face.

How do you say spin a top and fly a kite in Japanese?

To spin a top is koma o mawasu, with mawasu, to turn. To fly a kite is tako o ageru, with ageru, to raise. To fly a bamboo propeller toy is taketonbo o tobasu. For any game you can also say the name plus o suru.

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