The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1881-08-24
How Iannnese Fang are Made.

As in many other branches Of in
dustry, the principal of division of labor
is carried out in the fanmaking 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 pat
terms of the handle according to plans
prepared by the designer. In like man.
ner the designer gives out to the en-
gravers the patterns which his expert
ence teaches him will be most likely to
be salable 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 fan 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 we'll
saturated with oil and properly creased.
The four are then folded together and
placed under a 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 in
their folds. The next process is to take
the ribs, which are temporarily arranged
in order on a wire, aud "set" them in
their places on one of the sheets, after
it has been spread out on a 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 upand opened
three or four times before the folds
take the proper shape; and by the time
4he fan is put up to dry it has received
far more handling than any foreign
paper could stand; indeed, foreign
paper has been tried, and had to be
given up as unsuitable for tho work;
but with great care the Osaka fan
makers have been able to make some
fans with printed pictures which have
been sent over from America, though
they were invariably obliged to use one
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 together and then
running in pointed ribs, the ribs are
square, and are pasted in their places
in the manner described above. The
outside lacquered pieces and the fancy
work are all done in Osaka and Kioto,
and some of the designs in lacquer on
bone are really artistic; but the de-
mand for the highly ornamented descrip-
tion of fans is not sufficient to encour-
age tho production of large quantities
of first-class work. When the insides
are dry the riveting of the pieces to-
gether, including the outer covering, is
rapidly done, and dash of varnish
quickly finishes the fan. - Public
Ori11iO1,