Explore everyday life in Japan

The Toy Maker

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As my family and I prepared to enter a local pool and spa facility recently, we were met at the door by an old man and his wife.

They had spread a blue tarp out on the sidewalk and were selling homemade toys that the old man had made from wood and bamboo.

Perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that the old woman was doing the selling and barking while the old man, for the most part, just sat quietly in his chair, keeping watch over his creations, splitting his time between whittling un-carved pieces of wood and slowly bending down to pick up the toys he had made and giving young sets of curious eyes demonstrations on how to work the toys of yesterday.

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There were piggy banks and marble tracks, pin wheels and wooden blocks, handheld propellers that took off up into the air and flew away when spun, wooden tops, animals and anime characters that waddled down ramps, octopuses whose legs moved in different directions as they rolled across the ground, toy trains and puzzles, and there were even guns that rattled off sounds like an old Gatling gun with the turn of a crank.

One of the most popular toys was something I had never seen before, a daikon radish canon. It was made of split bamboo and wooden blocks, and it looked like a slingshot that had been mixed with a crossbow. It worked by placing a chunk of daikon radish (a potato or carrot would work just as well) on one end of an arrow-like dart. Once attached, all one had to do was pull back on the opposite end of the same dart, much like one would with a bow and arrow or a slingshot, and let go. The rubber bands that attached the dart to the handle then brought the dart thrusting forward until it slammed into the bamboo handle and sent the chunk of daikon radish flying off into the air.

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Another popular toy was a tall top that had been made from a hollow section of bamboo. The body of the top was about four inches tall and had a thick opening cut into its side. The handle for this top was long and stood about five inches over the top itself.

Spinning the top wasn’t easy. It involved wrapping a long piece of string tightly around the top’s handle so that it could be pulled with two hands in opposite directions. When spun properly, the top let out a very surreal and deep moaning sound that was eerily mesmerizing.

Not feeling like spending much money that day, my wife and I passed on the top. In some ways, now, I wish that we hadn’t. We also passed on buying my son the daikon radish cannon he wanted because I imagined it turning into a sibling torture device once we got home. Instead, my wife and I opted on buying our children their first piggy bank. That seemed like something that would serve them well and, perhaps, get the most use.

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I must say, though, if I have the good fortune of running into this toy maker again, I definitely won't pass up another opportunity to buy one of his magical whirring tops.

Image Credits: All images in this post are original.

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This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.

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If you missed my last post, you can find it here Cicadas.