Sasebo Top

Tops, or koma, are round and made of wood and pierced through the middle with a rod that’s used as the axis for rotating. These tops, which spin by being spun either by hand or with a string, came to Japan in the eighth century from China, by way of the Korean Peninsula (that is where the name “Koma” derived from). At first they were a game for the court people and the nobility, but then during the Edo period (1603-1867) the tops became widespread and gradually became a game for children as well.