The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1878-05-30
gananese Fans.

The fielding fan is a JaPenese inven-
ton. Even to this day the fan forms
an integral portion of the national COS
tune Of Japan, and plays a large part
/ in the every day life of that country.
An almost fabulous number Of fans
are exported from Japan to all parts of
the world; no fewer than 1900, 600 fans,
valued at S9O,OOo, were shipped from
Hiogo and Osaka in 1875. Osaka is the
principal city for the manufacture Of
the "ogi, or folding fans, which are
almost exclusively those exported, all
descriptions Of the bamboo kind being
made there, the figures, writing, etc.
being executed in Kiyoto. The prin
cipal Of division in labor is carried out
long way in this branch of industry.
The bamboo ribs of the fans are made
by private people in their own houses,
and combinations Of the various notches
cut in the lower part are left to one Of
the finishing workmen, who forms the
various patterns Of the handles accord
ing to plans prepared by the designer.
In like manner the designer gives cut
to the engravers the patterns which he
thinks will be saleable, and, when the
blocks have been cut, decides what
cOlors are to be used for each part Of
the design, and what different sheets
are to be used for the opposite sides of
each fan.
When these sheets, with the set Of
bamboo slips which are TO form the
ribs, have been handed over to the
workman, he, in the hrst instance,
folds them 50 that they will retain the
crease. This is done by putting them
between two pieces Of heavily oiled
paper, which are properly creased. The
fans are then folded up together, and
placed underpressure. When sufficient
time has elapsed, the sheets are taken
out and the mould used again, the re-
leased sheets having been packed up
for at least twenty-four hours in their
folds. The ribs, which are temporarily
arranged in order on wire, are then
Caken and set in their places on one o.
the sheets, after it has been spread out
on block and pasted. Adash Of paste
then gives the woodwork adhesive pow
ers, and that part of the process is fin
ished by afixing the remaining piece Of
paper. The fan is folded up, and
opened three or four times before the
folds get into proper shape, and by the
time it is put by to dry, it has received
an amount Of handling which japanese
paper alone could endure. When the
nsides are dry, the riviting Of the
pieces tOgether-including the outer
rapidly done, and a dash
Of varnish quickly finishes the fan.
The sale Of fans in the olden time in
Japan seldom exceeded 10000 for the
whole country; times have changed,
however, for the foreigner has set foot
there, and the old days of seclusion and
limited trade are over. The number Of
fans ordered for the Philadelphia Ex-
hibition alone amounted to over SOC, 600
at a cost Of about S5O, 900.
The designs for the mounts of Japan
ese- fans are sometimes of a very inter-
esting description, and also strikingly
unlike the productions Of European
art. One popularity Of the art of Japan
has been pointed out Sy a recent critic.
If a japanese artist has any space to
adorn, he does not seek out the center
and place his ornament there, for al
though that would be the obvious
means Of securing proportion, it would
not satisfy a taste directly derived from
a study Of nature, where proportion is
rather suggested than expressed. We
find, therefore, that the Japanese artigt
initiating the ways of nature, throws
his design little out Of the precise bal.
ance and trusts to the spectator to judge
Of the result by an association Of i'm.
Dressions similarly deriyed.-Hd1per'S