Need to improve your hand-eye coordina- Otedama games, and the songs that accompa-
tion? Take up juggling. And make it crafty nied them, were passed orally from mothers to
by whipping up a set of these soft, colorful daughters for hundreds of years, but today there’s
Japanese juggling toys. All you need are some fabric little record of the otedama tradition. The term has,
scraps and a handful of dried beans or rice. however, become a more general name for juggling
The Japanese word otedama refers to a variety of in modern-day Japan, and is practiced by both
juggling games, played with small handmade toys, men and women.
which originated in Japan way back in the 9th century. The earliest otedama toys were essentially tiny
Interestingly, otedama games were historically played drawstring bags, but they evolved into a wonder-
only by women and girls, who often juggled together ful variety of shapes — pillows, balls, fish, birds,
in groups while singing otedama songs. dolls, and fruits. You can find more modern-looking
Otedama reached the height of its popularity after otedama on many Japanese toy websites today, but World War II, when other toys were scarce in Japan. we’re going to go with tradition, and learn to make Otedama could be easily sewn together from scraps a simple “pillow-style” otedama — a design that of cloth, and filled with adzuki beans. In fact, parents originated sometime in the 15th century. Then, in wartime Japan sometimes smuggled extra food to we’ll explore some ways to make variations. their children at school inside the otedama.
Photography by Diane Gilleland
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