noun
playing war (children's game)
Dated term for children's pretend war play, similar to 戦争ごっこ. Now mostly replaced by 戦争ごっこ or other expressions.
See also: 戦争ごっこ
昔の子どもたちはよく戦ごっこをして遊んだものだ。
Children in the old days used to play war games.
More common modern term for children's war play. 戦ごっこ is dated and less frequent.
Compound of 戦 (いくさ, 'war, battle') and ごっこ (suffix for pretend play). The reading いくさ is an older native Japanese word for war.