Hanetsuki is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese traditional game, similar to badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

 without a net, played with a rectangular wooden paddle

Paddle

A paddle is a tool used for pushing against liquids, either as a form of propulsion in a boat or as an implement for mixing.-Materials and designs:...

 called a hagoita

Hagoita

Hagoita are rectangular wooden paddles, originating in Japan, ostensibly used to play hanetsuki, but often instead serving a more ornamental purpose. These are frequently painted, usually with lacquer, with auspicious symbols, or decorated with complex silk collages...

 and a brightly-coloured shuttlecock

Shuttlecock

A shuttlecock, sometimes called a bird or birdie, is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape: the cone is formed from sixteen or so overlapping feathers, usually goose or duck and from the left wing only, embedded into a rounded cork base...

. Often played by girls at the New Year

Japanese New Year

The is one of the most important annual festivals, with its own unique customs, and has been celebrated for centuries. Due to the importance of the holiday and the preparations required, the preceding days are quite busy, particularly the day before, known as Ōmisoka.The Japanese New Year has been...

, the game can be played in two fashions: by one person attempting to keep the shuttlecock aloft as long as possible, or by two people batting it back and forth. Girls who fail to hit the shuttlecock get marked on the face with India Ink

India ink

India ink is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comic books and comic strips.-Composition:...

. Traditionally, the longer the shuttlecock remains in the air, the greater protection from mosquito

Mosquito

Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...

es the players will receive during the coming year. Although Hanetsuki is not as popular as it used to be, decorative hagoita are commonly sold throughout Japan.

Hanetsuki sometimes has pictures of Kabuki theatre performers on it.