Two basic families
Japanese fans fall into two broad families. The first is the folding fan, sensu or ogi, with ribs that pivot on a single point and a surface that folds up when closed. The second is the rigid fan, uchiwa, a flat shape on a handle that does not fold. The two have different origins and uses, and neither is simply an earlier version of the other. The use of fans in dance, theatre and ritual is a separate subject; here the focus is on their forms and history.
The uchiwa: a fan from the continent
The rigid fan is of continental origin and appeared in Japan in ancient times. The earliest known versions were made from materials such as feathers or leaves, and later examples used a bamboo frame covered with paper or silk. In early records and pictures they are often held by high-ranking people, and in some cases they were a symbol of rank, carried up above the head. Over time the plain, round shape became familiar as an everyday tool for cooling and for fanning charcoal.
By the Edo period the uchiwa was a popular summer accessory and also a common item for advertising and printing. Many woodblock artists designed fan pictures, since paper fans offered a flat canvas, and some of the best-known publishers produced them. Today, uchiwa are given away at summer events and festivals, and a few regions are known for local varieties, though specifics vary. The bamboo frame and washi paper that make up a traditional uchiwa tie it to bamboo craft.
The folding fan: a Japanese development
The folding fan is generally believed to have been invented in Japan, around the Heian period. One early form, often called the hiogi, was made from thin strips of cypress wood fastened together with cord, and could be opened and closed. Court men and women used them as accessories at formal events. Women’s court fans of the period could be elaborately decorated, with painted scenes and colored cords, and they feature in descriptions of the Heian court, where a fan might help a lady partly shield her face and also serve as a surface for a poem or a message.
A lighter form, with paper stretched over thin bamboo ribs, followed. Exports of the folding fan to the continent are recorded from the medieval centuries, and it later became popular elsewhere in Asia and, much later, in Europe. Historians often note that this reverses the usual direction of influence, since many Japanese crafts originated on the continent.
During the Muromachi culture era, fans were produced in large numbers, and they were also used in painting: scenes were composed on fan-shaped sheets, and fan paintings were later pasted onto folding screens as decorative elements. The idea of the fan as an art surface persisted into the Edo period.
How a folding fan is made
A folding fan has several parts:
- Ribs (hone), thin slats of bamboo, with a pair of thicker guard ribs on the outer edges.
- The pivot (kaname), a rivet at the base holding the ribs together.
- The surface, usually paper, glued in pleats onto the ribs.
Making one involves many steps, divided among specialists in some traditional workshops: cutting and shaping the bamboo, preparing the paper, decorating it, and pasting and finishing. The design is chosen to match the season or the occasion, so a summer fan may feature plants or water, and a ceremonial fan may be gold with auspicious designs.
Fans for warriors: gunbai and tessen
Military leaders of the past are said to have used a rigid fan called a gunbai to direct troops, and the form is often linked with samurai culture. Surviving examples can be lacquered or painted with symbols such as the sun or moon. Today a version of the gunbai is carried by sumo referees, as an inheritance of that old form.
The tessen is a fan with iron ribs. It could be carried where weapons were restricted, and the closed fan could serve as a striking tool, which is why it appears in stories of warriors. Such accounts are often romanticized, and the historical details of how it was actually used are limited.
Edo and after
In the Edo period, folding fans were sold widely, in styles for different seasons, ages and trades. Fan shops in cities offered painted and printed designs, and fans became a common souvenir. Ukiyo-e prints show them in the hands of travelers, entertainers and city residents, while Japonisme influence in the nineteenth century drew many Europeans to the fan as a symbol of Japan.
In the twentieth century, electric fans and air conditioning replaced the practical need for hand fans, but they remain in use at festivals, in summer wear, and as craft objects. The folding fan, with its simple mechanism and decorated surface, is one of the best-known Japanese contributions to world material culture.