JAPANESE TOPS. A PRELIMINARY COMMUNICATION 

Introduction.

For all of the wonder variety and intricacy of Japanese tops and the role, they play in the cultural history of that country; there is precious little about this wonderful toy and pastime written in the English language.

I have spent mast of four years collecting what crumbs from the table that I could find. I have e-mailed people, written to others, followed up various leads, and frequented local libraries, all to no avail. "Crumbs" was all that I gleaned.

Recently I found myself away from home and all my normal pursuits and subsequently very bored! I decided that I would spend as much time as I could tracing Gould's bibliography references to South Pacific and Japanese tops. I have to say that I was very successful with my South Pacific references, but I was again very frustrated with my Japanese searches, though I did find some that were valuable.

Not to be deterred I decided that I would be somewhat more focussed on my target to learn about Japanese tops so I went to the library and used the internet (I was away from home remember) and followed up every avenue that my searches revealed. I discovered that there had been a Kite and Top exhibition in Jamaica in the West Indies, so I promptly wrote to them (no reply as yet!!) then (as I had a "free" telephone!) I rang the Australian Japanese Embassy and was told to write to the Cultural Attaché. This kind person sent me some quite useful material, including the fact that last year, in Australia, this same Kite and Top exhibition had been mounted in two of our cities. Can you believe that I missed it! :(

This has led me to contact the local Japan Foundation, and a very helpful group they have been. They have sent me "all" that they had on the subject and I reciprocated. As the result of this exercise I believe that I am now in a position to share with the "tops world" a synthesis of what I have discovered. But there still is a huge amount that I have to discover. If you, the reader of this article, can help please, please please, contact me.

Just one more thing before I close this introduction. I am in the process of gaining permission to publish a set of extremely nice photographs that came from a poster that advertised the exhibition. Failing that, I am afraid that the illustrations will be very sparse indeed, but I will include a link to the Japanese Top Museum which has a large number of tops displayed but so little text and or explanation (even if you read Japanese)

It should be noted that I have not done any original research on this topic and all information that is included in this article is gleaned from a variety of articles. Where the authorship of these articles is known I have referenced it.

History.

Most of the reference books and encyclopaedias that you will consult will tell you that tops came to Japan form China, via Korea about 1200 years ago. They often state that the origin of the word Koma, which is the Japanese word for tops, comes from the Japanese word Koma for Korea. More recent scholarship has cast doubt upon this theory. Items thought to be tops have been unearthed from the Tomizu Ruins, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, and the Fujiwara Palace Ruins, Nara Prefecture. It would appear that though one of the objects found appeared to have been made on a lathe, the koma unearthed are, for the most part, "natural" objects not man made. Having said this, there are man made wooden objects that have been found in those excavations that could possibly be koma. From my own researches into ethnic tops, it seems reasonable that as the first tops that many cultures used were natural stone or seed based tops, it could well be the case for Japanese tops. I would need to have the opportunity to see these excavated objects before I passed an opinion on them.

What does appear clear is that the so called native tops of Japan were at some time mixed with the imports from China, Korea, and perhaps other Asian countries. By the period known in Japanese history as the Heian Period (794-1185), it appears that tops from these other countries had made a large impact. At first they were used as pastimes by the aristocracy and also used in court ceremonies.

Going back to the origin of the word koma. It is said that the word was first used in the diary of the Emperor Yuryaku in the Nihonshoki, [I do not know the date of this] however some scholars question this. In the 10^th century in a Chinese literary work called Wamyosho the word is recorded, but the Japanese equivalent was koma tsukuri. These words translated as "that which had a hole in it". Clearly this refers to a hole that is a device that allows the tops to "hum". This type of top can be seen in the history of a few nations. In Japan this top was made from bamboo and still exists today as the bamboo narigoma known as the togoma. Other names for tops in the Tahoko region prior to the Meiji and Taisho periods were zuguri, suguri, and zunguri.

Tops became so popular in the Genroku Period (1688-1704) that various bans were placed on their use, but they became almost purely children's toys by the end of the Tokugawa Period (1603- 1866).

Recent history (post World War Two) has shown a decrease in tops as a children's game, but it has blossomed as an adult hobby.

Please note that much of the above history has been gleaned from an un-attributable article that I received from the Japan Foundation Library. I suspect that it might have accompanied the above mentioned exhibition of Kite and Tops.

Types of Japanese Tops

The following section is gleaned from the above un-attributable article and the books, Japanese Tops, Gould's Tops and notes that I have gleaned from flyers and other scraps of information. (See references)

It is hard to say what comprises a Japanese top. There size varies from about 5mm to 90 mm! There shapes vary enormously too from the plain bamboo natural top to the most intricate of people and other object shapes. What must be a feature is the use of colour on the tops. I have gleaned that the colours used are sometimes significant of the region with which they are associated. Apart for the human form decoration, the main colouring is that of circles and spirals.

In common with many countries the first category, and the oldest, is that of

• Seed/nut Koma.

The most common of these is the Acorn seed/nut. It is a twirler top.

• Tatakigoma (Muchigoma-Hitting top)

This is what we would call a whip top. There are many kinds of whip tops and were made locally. The Tohoku and Kyushu regions are most famous for their whip tops.
• Nagegoma (Throwing tops)

I am fairly sure that we would call them "peg tops" but we also know them as throwing tops. The Iron tops (I think with an iron band around them) and one called baigoma are the best known of these tops.
• NarigomaI (Crying tops)

We know these as humming tops. They have a hole in them, which produces a sound when they are spun. They also go under the names of unarigoma, kuteki, karagoma, hanshogoma, zogoma, and gonggongoma. They were originally made of bamboo, and this continues, but like all modern toys they are now made out of tin and plastic.
• Baigoma

The origins of this top is the cone shaped shell kaibai. It was a very popular top for the common people. It developed from the original shell by whittling down the top of it and filling the cone with wax or clay. (or a bell was inserted ?) This gave it weight. Further developments were when they made it from iron when the typical shell shape was lost in favour of a cone shape. It is reported that these tops were used for gambling and consequently were banned from schools.
They were especially popular in the Edo to Meiji period especially in the Kyoto-Osaka areas. In Edo the name for it is Begoma.
• Tetsudoguma (Iron top)

These were originally a top with and iron axle and a thick iron rim. It was a toy produced in Asakusa and Edo during the Tempo Period (1830-1844) The children bought a wooden top from the shop and had the iron rim added by the blacksmith. As you can imagine, the game they played was to hit your opponent's top and presumably send it crashing. I winder if it might have been similar to the English "top in the ring" game where you tried to knock you opponents tops out of a prescribed ring?
• Tubakugoma (Gambling top)

These are clearly the equivalent of the teetotum. They had either 6 (ohanogoma) or 8 (happogoma) sides. Bets were placed on which side would land uppermost. They are currently locally produced in Tohoku (donkoragoma) and Tottori (daikichigoma).
• Zenigoma (Money top)

There were Coins known as bunsen that had a square hole in them. These were stacked and a hollow writing brush was inserted as an axle. Inside this a piece of bamboo was inserted. It was launched by winding a piece of string around it. The competition was to see how long it could be made to spin and the game eventually became known as jumyogoma (lifespan top) It was a favourite entertainment at drinking parties. It survived up until the end of the Meiji period. There after they were made from clay (not coins) and then commercially marketed.
• Kyokugoma (Acrobat top)

It is this tops that probably intrigues me most. I have heard of some wonderful tricks that the top masters can do. I would just love to see them in action!
The Hakatagoma which originated in Hakata, Kyoshu was rather like the Tetsudogoma. It was wooden with an iron axle. It was known as a long spinner ( though I would have thought with the weight of the axle it would be a fast spinner as opposed to a long spinner, but even that depends on the rest of its construction, I think the boys that put the iron ring around it knew something about making a top spin a long time!) However, a young (handsome!) boy came to Kyoto (1700) and put on a top acrobatic show for them thus popularising acrobatic tops in Edo. It was this gyokugoma which established the tradition of acrobatic tops and the system of "top masters". These masters even traveled to America in 1863 to perform their tricks to an admiring American public. The Edo tradition of acrobatic tops remains today.
• The following are a list of the modern Edo tops, listed by the manner in which they are launched.

Hineri-koma. Twisting top (twirler.)
Momi-koma Rubbing top (Palm spinner)
Itohiki-koma Pulled string top.
Himomaki-koma String wound top (thrown or peg top)
Tobi-koma Flying top. This is a multiple top comprising about five tops inside a cover that come out one by one. It is a string pulled top.
Tobidasi-koma Jumping out top. Similar to the one above but they appear to jump out of the top of the top as opposed to the bottom (?)
Turi-koma Hanging top. You seem to launch this via two strings rather like a buzzer.
Nari-koma Humming top
Sara-koma Plate top. You will have seen these in many circus acts.

• Here are some more tops types that I found.

• Kenka-Goma. Made in Ume-cho and Oita Prefecture. I believe these to be "shallot" shaped tops.

• Tenori-Goma Tops to spin in ones palm.

• Taiko-Goma Drum Shaped tops

• Meoto-Goma Husband and wife tops.

• Usuki-Goma. Bell shaped top of oak with an iron stem

The following are taken from Gould.

• Kake. Seat Shaped supported top

• Bozu. Bald peg top

• Taiko. Drum peg top

• Doza (Locality). Peg top

• Tongari. Pointed twirler

• Hakata. (province) supported top.

• Sasebo. (Province) peg top

• Shimabara. (province) supported top

• Gingai. (Province) peg top

• Matsu Kasa. Straw hat peg top

• Hineri. Twist twirler

• Kasu. Turnip peg top

• Dangai. Straight side peg top

• Ruyugo. Drum cinched in the middle. Diavalo.

• Bun Bun . (Sound of top) supported top.

• Muchi. Whip top

• Hiyotan. Gourd whip top.

• Rokuhatu. Hexagonal teetotum

• Soroban. Like a disc of the abacus, supported top

• Chokueren. Peg top

• Dai Wani. Alligator peg top

• Shin dai. Early type of twirler.

• Yamanishi. (locality) peg top

• Heso. Navel peg top

• Tohokuhsi. (Locality) supported top

• Hirayama. (locality) peg top

• Osaka. (Locality) supported top

• Don ben. Bowl and cover peg top

• Kyoku. Supported top. Common with children.

• Karakasa. Peg top, resembling a partly folded umbrella when inverted.

• Nasu. Eggplant

• Nijujikuru. Double scallop peg top

• Tota hei. (locality) supported top

• Hinaku . (Locality) supported top

• Totori Hei. (locality) supported top

• Hanzaka. (locality) twirler

• Tojin. Chinese style whip top

• Gensuii. (family name) supported top.

• Temawashi. Hand spun twirler.

• Pink (presumably the colour of the top!) twirler.

• Bozu-goma. Priest top

• Uchi tsuke goma. Striking top

• Uke-goma. Catching top

• Tsumami-goma Pinching top

• Te-goma. Hand top

• Kashinomi-goma. Acorn top

• Senpei-goma. Cake top.

• Fue-goma. Whistle top

• Cochin-goma. Lantern top

• Yakko-goma. Slave top

• Kamiyo. From the Sadohora province. Similar to the Hiniku top but painted black and has the crest of the Lords of Shimazu painted on it. It is know by several other names.
• The Great Luck top. Teetotum. From Tottori. Hexagonal. The sides are. Labeled. Supreme good luck, partial luck, poor luck, holiday, no worry, no good, etc. In the past the faces of the top were left blank for the purchaser to fill in with their own labels!
• Daruma top. From the Narago , Miyagi province. The top gets its name from the Buddhist Holy man whose character decorates the base of the top upon which it is spun.
• Zuguri top. Hirosaki-Kuroishi in the Aaomori prefecture. Shaped like a mortar bowl and rounded on the bottom for spinning in the snow.

Tops Culture.

Whilst I am aware that the tradition of the top master still is part of the top culture in Japan, and that there are numerous top makers in the country, the ancient traditions appear to have died out. Japan is not alone in this phenomena. Tops were part of my boyhood six decades ago, now I rarely see a top played with the exception of the tin archemedian tops that we spin for our babies pleasure. For the most part tops and the art of spinning has become an adult interest in Japan as in most other developed countries. It is the adult enthusiast and top collector that seem to keep the art alive.

It would appear that the regional identification with tops remains, but even then I gather that there is a lot of cross fertilization with the tops styles.

Conclusion.

Well, I have only scratched the surface. I understand that there are in excess of 1000 different kinds of tops in Japan. How do you go about finding all these? Cataloguing them? Photographing them? (Which is what I would really like to do.) Buying them ? ( I have to say that Japanese tops are definitely not cheap. The few I have bought I have felt were a lot of money!!)

You can tell from what I have gleaned form the article that I have that there is such a lot more that we have to learn about these tops and their stories. I have it in my mind to see if one of the big Japanese corporations would take this on as a project. What do you think? I have no experience in this kind of thing. Of course we would definitely want the project to be "English" or one of the mainstream European languages or we would end up with the same problem that I began with; There is so little published in English about this whole wonderful world of Japanese tops.

As usual there is an open invitation for you to contribute to this page. The more we pool our knowledge the more we will all learn. Perhaps the one question that I have relates to the size of the tops. As I have intimated I do have a number of illustrations, but in none of them is there given any indication of their size.

Thanks for reading this.

Brian

References.

Brian's Top Bibliography (including Japanese Tops)
Japanese Top Museum
 
 

Thanks