Hanetsuki was a Shinto ritual performed in the hope of girls' healthy growth, and was a Shinto ritual or game which had been played among court nobles since the Nara period.
女児が健やかに育つようにという願いを込めて行われる神事であり、古くは奈良時代から続く、公家の間で行われた神事や遊戯であった。