The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1881-04-28
Japanese Fans---The Manner i'm Which
They are Manufactured.

They are Manufactured.
During the past few years Japanese
fans have become SO popular in this
country that a few brief remarks re-
| spectlng them and the manner in which
they are manufactured, may perhaps
prove acceptable. A writer in Cham
bers' Journal SAYS: Osaka is the prin-
cipal city for the manufacture of the
ogi, or folding fans, which are those
almost exclusively imported, all descrip-
tions of the bamboo kind being made
there !; the figures, writing, ETC., re-
quired for their adornment are executed
at Kioto. The prices vary from few
pence up to t6 per 100, and even oc-
casionally higher prices are given,
though the bulk consists of the cheaper
sorts. The superior kind of fan, it may
be mentioned parenthetically, which
are termed uchiwa by the Japanese, are
manufactured at Kioto, and are extern
sively used by the better classes of the
natives.
The following are the principal feat
ures in the account which Mr.. Consul
Annesley gives of the details connected
with ogi or folding fans. AS in many
other branches of industry, the princi-
pie of division of labor is carried out
In the fan making trade. The bamboo
ribs are made in Osaka and Kioto by
private individuals 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 handle accord
ing to plans prepared by the designer.
In like manner the designer gives out
to the engravers the patterns which his
experience teaches him will be most
| likely to be saleable during the ensuing
season (; and when the different blocks
have been cut, it still rests with him to
| say what colors are to be used for the
two sides of each fan. In fact, this
official holds, if not the best paid, at
any rate the most important, position
| on the staff in ordinary. When the
printed sheets which are to form the
two sides of the fans have been handed
over to the workman, together with the
sets OF bamboo slips which are to form
the ribs, his first business is to fold the
two sheets of which the fan is to be
composed, so that they will retain the
crease, and this is done by putting them
between two pieces of paper, well satui-
rated with oil, and properly creased.
The four are then folded together and
placed under heavy weight. &
When sufficient time has elapsed the
sheets are taken out and the molds used
again, the released sheets being packed
up for at least twenty-four hours in1heir
folds. The next process is to take the
ribs, which are temporarily arranged in
order on wire, and "set'' them into
their places on one of the sheets, after
it has been spread out on block and
pasted. A dish of paste then gives the
woodwork adhesive powers and that
part of the process is finished by affix-
ing the remaining sheet of paper. The
fan has to be folded up and opened
three or four times before the folds take
the proper shape; and by the time the
fan is put to dry it has received far more
hand ling than any foreign paper could
stand; indeed, foreign paper has been
tried and had to be given up as insult
able for the work; but with great care
the Osaka lawmakers had been able to
make some fans with printed pictures,
ca, though they were invariably obliged
to use the face of Japanese paper.
The qualities of native paper now
used are not nearly so good as those of
which the old fans were made, and in
consequence the style of manufacture
has had to be changed. Instead of first
pasting the two faces of the fan togeth.
er, and then running in pointed ribs,
the ribs are square and are pasted in
in their their places in the manner de-
scribed above. The outside lacquered
pieces and the fancy work are all done
in Osaka and Kioto and some of the de
signs IN lacquer on bone are really artis-
tic; but the demand for the highly or
namented descriptions of fans is not
sufficient to encourage the production
When the insides are dry, the riveting
of the pieces together, including the
outer covering, is rapidly done and
dash of varnish quickly finishes the fan.
The highest price that was ever given
for a fan in the days of seclusion from
the outer world rarely exceeded SOW
ereign, but since the arrival of for
eigners in the country, some few have
been made to order at prices vary
ing from f2 to f3 sterling.
The general prices of ordinary
fans range from Is. or 3s. to f3 per
100, though an extraordinary expen-
sive fan is turned out at f1O per 100.
The sale of fans in olden times seldom
exceeded 10000 year for the whole
country; but in recent years no less than
L
ports of Osaka and Yokohama alone.
In concluding these brief notes it may
be interesting to mention that the num-
ber of fans ordered in Japan for the
Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia
reached the large figure Of 800, 900, the
estimated cost of which was $1,000
and that these were over and above the
ordinary annual report alluded to be-
fore.
Tho Karipauo D;omoud Dnr,ouan