piece placed to block opponent’s check (shogi)(Harukoma/Harukoma)
Hariko (papier-mâché. A toy in which a horse’s head, made with a frame made of bamboo or wood, or a mold made of clay and pasted with Japanese paper, is attached to the body of a stick with a wheel at the other end. Children’s New Year’s plaything. The art of “kadozuke” (going from house to house with a harukoma) became popular around the middle of the Edo period (1603-1867), and is still practiced as a folk art in Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, and Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture. There are many dancing dolls, court dolls, and feather boards depicting children and women carrying harukoma.
