Typical New Year’s toys for children: koma or spinning tops, buriburi or pull-toy, along with a wooden racquet called a hagoita. Together they create the atmosphere of the New Year, the biggest celebration in Japan.
Design is called “Kazusa Kujukuri Seine Net”, which depicts the working fishermen at Kujukuri, the city next to Togane, Japan, where Kurenai-Kai is located.
This obi design is inspired by the Japanese lacquer painter and print artist of the late Edo period and early Meiji era. Zeshin’s works are often labeled as iki, which might be translated as “chic,” and considered to have just the right balance of tradition with the new.