Dictionary

kendama en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɛnˌdɑːmə/

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese けん玉 (けんだま, kendama), from 拳 (けん, ken, “game played with the hands; fist”) or 剣 (けん, ken, “sword”) + 玉 (たま, tama, “ball”).

Meanings

1. A traditional Japanese toy with an attached ball that can be caught in any of three cups or on a spike.
   • He spread kendama throughout Japan utilizing strong-minded leadership while working energetically on unifying and codifying the techniques. […] In 1980 Fujiwara moved production of the official JKA kendama to the company Hakushinsya (maker of the Shinfuji). 2019 July 12, “History of the Japan Kendama Association”, in Sweet Kendamas, archived from the original on 29 Jun 2021:
   • An especially haunting work, “If the Moment Came,” is a waist-high black box with a top made of wired glass and a murky interior that shows a looping video of a hand playing with a kendama, a Japanese toy featuring a wooden handle and a small ball. The artist, Chloë Cheuk, said that she created the installation after making an audio recording of boys playing with kendamas at one of the 2014 protest sites. 2017 March 30, Mike Ives, “As Hong Kong Ponders Its Future Under Beijing, Politics Infuses Its Art”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2021:

Forms

Relateds

bilboquet

Translations (9)

cmn 托球 (Japanese toy with an attached ball) · cmn 劍玉 /剑玉 (Japanese toy with an attached ball) · ko 켄다마 (Japanese toy with an attached ball) · he קֶנְדָמָה (Japanese toy with an attached ball) · ja 剣玉 (Japanese toy with an attached ball) · cmn 劍球 /剑球 (Japanese toy with an attached ball) · es kendama (Japanese toy with an attached ball) · ja 拳玉 (Japanese toy with an attached ball) · ja けん玉 (Japanese toy with an attached ball)