Giccho (毬杖)

Giccho is a game in which one party smashes a wooden ball aimed at the other party's side by swinging a wooden cane with a wooden mallet head at the end. Giccho also indicates the wooden cane used in the game. Giccho is also called "buriburi-giccho" or "tama-buriburi." The cane is decorated with colored thread.

Giccho evolved during the Heian period as a game for children, but later it became popular with people of all generations. The game gradually became obsolete, but it remained as a New Year ritual until around the Edo period. Today, people occasionally enjoy this game as part of regional hands-on cultural learning experiences. A theory suggests that the term "hidari-giccho" (lefty) was derived from the matter that a left-handed person would hold Giccho (wooden cane) in the left hand.
"Honchorigen" suggests another etymology in its description that 'the reason lefties are generally called "giccho" is in the Chinese character "左義長" (Sagicho (ritual bonfire of New Year's decorations)), which also means people who mainly use the left hand.'

[Original Japanese]