a traditional Japanese handball


Yanagawa handballs are traditional Japanese handball made in Yanagawa City, Fukuoka Pref. It is
designated as a Traditional Craft Product by the prefecture. In Yanagawa area, three is a custom to
present “Sagemon” to a girl on her first girls’ Sekku day (March 3). Sagemon is a kind of mobile with
a large handball set in the center of the ring and many small balls and handmade staffed-dolls, mostly
lucky items such as a crane, attached alternately to the strings that are hung from the ring.
Traditionally, Yanagawa handballs are used for this ornament. In making of Yanagawa balls, a wadded
cotton cloth is covered with a sheet of cotton, which is shaped into a ball with basting yarn. Then the
ball is whipped up with cotton thread that is dyed with Kusaki-zome technique or modern colored
thread of synthetic fiber. It is said that Yanagawa handballs were first made by the waiting maids
working at the residence of the domain lord of Yanagawa Province and then the technique spread
among the townspeople in the castle town. The making of Yanagawa handballs has been handed
down as a cultural property of the castle town.
　




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