Transparent Fan Design

14 Aug 2006 Category: Arts & Crafts, Features, Japan, Products

Transparent Fan Design

When the sun blazes down on us, it is always good to have your handkerchief, cold drink and fan at hand. While the ladies often try to impress people by holding a beautiful folding fan called Sensu, most guys use a normal flat fan “on a stick” called Uchiwa. These days, most Uchiwa I see in the streets are give-away fans for yet another (!)advertising campaign and so it’s really hard for me to consider them interesting… However, the other day I discovered some very beautiful Uchiwa fans at a long-established stationary shop called Kyukyodo in Ginza. Those transparent delicacies were something I had never seen before, so I would like to share a breeze from these fantastic Sukashi Uchiwa with you today.

Written by YO-CO
Translated by Chiemi

Sukashi Uchiwa - Transparent fan with a scene from the sea

Generally, a fan is used to fan yourself (of course!). But when the fan got introduced to Japan from China through Korea about 1200 years ago during the Nara priod, people used it to protect themselves from the light or to hide their faces. Then, the fan was also used to blow away sparks at fire brigades or to separate rice from rice husks by farmers, besides the use for commands by military leaders in the Warring States period. The sumo wrestling referees still use the fan in a very particular way, but that is a of course a very rare case of how to use fan.

Sukashi Uchiwa - Transparent fan with a Noshi decoration, attached to gifts to express good wishes.

But these Sukashi Uchiwa (transparent fans) are also not really used to fan yourself. These very elegantly designed fans are said to create a cooling atmosphere when being displayed. As briefly introduced in one of our summer articles from last year, the Japanese summer wind bell, goldfish swimming in a bowl or Japanese jelly cake are a few of the various alternative options to “feel coolness with your senses” in the traditional Japanese way. (Uleshka adds: I am always surprised to see tons of wind bells installed at my local train station in the summer. The tender tinkle really makes you feel the breeze!) So - you can also cool yourself down by looking at Sukashi Uchiwa - an airy fan displaying a breeze, not only by swiching on the air-con.

Sukashi Uchiwa - Transparent fan with an image of the beautiful flower Phalaenopsis

These transparent fan reveal their framework and only a few skillfully cut pieces of Japanese paper are attached. However this framework is not poor-looking, but appeals as a high-quality cane work.


the front side of a normal fan

the back of normal fan - very simple.

the front side of transparent fan

the back side of transparent fan - impressive!

very uniform thickness of the frame “spokes”

the handle of transparent fan: this part is made from another piece of wood

These fans are all hand-made and therefore produced very carefully compared to ordinary fans. They are also called “Kyo Uchiwa“, which is basically a Japanese traditional craft of its own.

The look of Kyo Uchiwa is directly effected by the quality of materials used, so therefore the material always need to be chosen very carefully. Only high quality bamboo (Madake) is used for the frame and Japanese Washi paper from the cities of Minou, Tosa or Echizen is selected for the design part.

Studio Aiba in Kyoto are famous for Kyo Uchiwa. They have not only transparent fans but also other highly sophisticated fans out of Yuzen fabric, which is usually only used for Kimonos. So, if you have a chance to go to Kyoto, go and check them out!

Modern motif, roses

morning glories are a very traditional design

Well, I’m simply happy that I discovered these amazing fans with a true originality of showing the framework to express coolness.

plovers above waves.. cute!

white herons on a river

This is back side but it still looks good!

I hope that you could feel a nice breeze from these very beautiful transparent fans, not just the heat from your computer…

35 Comments

  1. Those are so beautiful. When i was in japan they always give one on the streets on summer. XD But those are not so beautiful.

    I always visit pingmag. ;D

    kisses from brazil

    Posted by: Chris Mise on August 14th, 2006 at 10:20 pm

  2. wah!!!!!!!!!!!i wanna be in Japan ar!!!! BUt i dont want to use those fan, Malaysia is hot enough..so, should experience sring, autumn and winter in Japan..But, it’s really so artistic!!

    Posted by: munchy on August 14th, 2006 at 10:25 pm

  3. They’re quite lovely (: Thank you for writing about them.

    Posted by: L~ on August 14th, 2006 at 11:56 pm

  4. So Beautiful!!!

    Posted by: You Zhengyu on August 15th, 2006 at 12:58 pm

  5. WOw!! This is the reason i subscribe to PingMag :D , its appear ordinary things, but you guys turn it into blazingly art thing.

    Posted by: kuswanto on August 15th, 2006 at 7:02 pm

  6. Those are some lovely fans.

    Posted by: B. on August 17th, 2006 at 2:56 am

  7. I’ve never seen anything like this.
    Very nice and eyecatching. How can I make one like this

    Posted by: Paulette on September 17th, 2006 at 1:50 am

  8. wow, these are all gorgeous! my favorite one is the “Sukashi Uchiwa - Transparent fan with an image of the beautiful flower Phalaenopsis”

    Posted by: Jonelle on October 6th, 2006 at 2:37 am

  9. Divine!! Beautiful and evocative. I adore Ping!!

    Posted by: antoni on December 12th, 2006 at 7:07 am

  10. Where can I purchase this type Uchiwa, or paper Uchiwa?

    Posted by: Laura Rae on January 18th, 2007 at 2:46 am

  11. this is absolutely awesome!!!!!

    Posted by: cherisa on January 6th, 2008 at 6:37 am

  12. They’re really nice. I’d really want to see process of making them.

    Posted by: Thana Cha on September 24th, 2008 at 10:53 pm

  13. googled uchiwa. nice blog~
    can i link your blog into mine? TQ

    Posted by: masjuju on November 2nd, 2010 at 6:21 pm

  14. linked! http://mialanimasjuju.blogspot.com/2010/11/uchiwai-like.html

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