Hagoita-kazari

Hagoita is a rectangular wooden paddle ostensibly used to play battledore and shuttlecock, and decorated with beautiful collages usually based on kabuki actors and titles as motifs. It is a Japanese custom to give a Hagoita to a girl when she has her first New Year, and to display it during every New Year thereafter. A fruit of the soapberry tree is used for the black ball of the shuttlecock, as it has been believed to protect children from disease. The feathers represent a dragonfly known as a beneficial insect, and it is said that playing battledore and shuttlecock in the New Year, prevents you from being bitten by mosquitoes in that summer.
Bows and arrows were important weapons for the Japanese samurai during battle. Hamayumi bows together with their arrows are considered very special as they are believed to purge evil spirits and have been used in Shinto rituals since the Heian period 1200 years ago. One such gallant ritual is that of a warrior on a galloping horse shooting an arrow to ward off evil. In Japan, an ornamental Hamayumi is given to a boy when he has his first New Year, and is displayed during every New Year thereafter to wish him good fortune.