Main
» Home
Journals
» Entry #1
» Entry #2
» Entry #3
» Entry #4
East Asian Art
» Peking Opera
» Japanese Fans
» Ikebana
» Bunraku
» Cheo Theatre
» Dzo
» That Luang
Links
Contact Info
» E-mail Me
Japanese Fans
There are many legends that tell of the first origins of the Japanese fan. One of the legends was about the "widow of Taira Atsumori who retired to the Mieido, a Kyoto temple. There she cured the abbot of a fever by uttering incantations and fanning him with a piece of paper folded into pleats." Another legend was about Toyomaru of Tamba province, who made the first folding fan after being inspired by the sight of a bat's wing. However, the earliest evidence of the fan was a painting in a burial ground dated round the 6th century AD in Fukuoka, Japan.
As the centuries passed, the style and uses of the fan were improved and created. Fans were artistically made with the artist's passion and freedom diving it a genuine feeling of craftsmanship. There were many types for different occasions such as the Hiogi which was only to be used by the Emperor until the 19th century. The Hiogi was made up of a large number of wooden blades (about 34 to 38 total; cypress wood). It was held together with a specially designed metal rivet in the form of a butterfly on the front and a bird on the back. The Empress however, had one slightly different. Her's required a rivet made of paper string and the blades would be held together with silk cords. "The fan face was painted with bright colours with carefully prescribed designs of pines, chrysanthemums, plum or cherry blossoms and sometimes, birds on a white ground surrounded by stylised clouds in gold and silver, variously outlined in red, blue, green and purple. From the top of each guard stick hung clusters of artificial flowers and long silk cords of different colours."Another type of fan was the Gunsen. What they basically are, are war fans. These were folding fans used by the commanding officers to siganl attack, retreat, and any other commands that needed to be established. The woooden spines were of black lacquer, with guards of bronze or iron which supported a heavy paper leaf which displayed a sun or moon device. The other types of fans were made for the tea ceremony, the theater, sumo wrestling and any other possible to use a fan.
As Japan evolved with explorations, trade followed around the world, and fans became a comodity among foreigners. The artistic designs and creations of the fan still exist but there aren't that many around. It is also unlikely that any foreigner would be able to attain an authentic Japanese Fan. The only fans foreigner's have ever been able to attain were closer to a mass production of manufactured goods than the actual art work of the Japanese fan.
