Hanetsuki
History, Heritage & Religion

for further reading: Japan-Guide.com

Hanetsuki is a traditional Japanese New Year's game, played with a wooden paddle called hagoita and a shuttle called hane. The game resembles badminton, played without a net. While the game's popularity has declined in recent times, beautifully ornamented hagoita are still a popular collection item.

Relevance to Urusei Yatsura

In the chapter "Shaping Up With Hanetsuki" the gang are forced to play against one another in a New Year's battle at school. Usually the game is for girls, which is why most of the guys seem to complain about being forced to play.