Summary

These small wooden spinning tops painted red, purple and green are called 'koma' in Japanese. They were purchased by the donor in Japan in the late 1980s. Such toys were played with by children throughout Japan when the donor was growing up but are now only sold at more specialist stores. She brought the toys to Australia in her capacity as a cultural ambassador, introducing Australians to Japanese traditions. Some of these toys were previously displayed at the Children's Museum, where the donor conducted several workshops from 1989 to 1993. These workshops introduced children to playing with such toys and to making origami.

This tops form part of the Australian Children's Folklore Collection (ACFC).
The ACFC is unique in Australia, documenting contemporary children's folklore across Australia and in other countries reaching back to the 1870s. The Collection has a strong component of research material relating to Victoria.

Physical Description

The three tops are still in their original plastic packaging with a yellow label bearing Japanese print attached.These tops are made of wood. They each consist of a small wooden spike which pierces a round body. The bodies of the tops are painted with stripes. One top has a thick red stripe and thin purple stripes. One has a thick purple stripe and thin red stripes. Another has a thick green stripe and thin purple stripes.

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