The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-01-31
Japanege Fans,

OapeiAS1SO ehhCs |
Twenty years ago these fans, which
row abound in every house, and which
may be bought by the dozen at a nom-
inal price, were regarded as genuine
curiosities Now, from the very reason
that they are cheap and common, they
are rarely examined, although their
utility as protection against fire heat,
or as filling up blank corner, and
their ornamental qualities when dexter
ously bound in worked satin, are gener-
ally acknowledged. Yet each of these
fans is in reality curiosity, and there
is far more food for study in them than |
in half the blue-smudged china which
fetches fabulous prices in the market.
The fan painters of Japan are an es- |
pecial, separate guild, as distinct from |
artists in other branches as with us the |
scene painter is from the portrait |
painter. The unknowing Englishman
looking at Japanese fan sees nothing
in it but upon one side grotesque rep
resentation of the ''penny plain and
twopence colored" order, and upon the
other few crude splashes of ink. But
to the citizen of Toxic or Osaka each
fan carries special signification-a
story, or part of story; an allusion, a
satire, or a suggestive idea. To GER
tain degree the fan is to the Japanese
citizen what Punch or the window of
the Stereoscopic Company is to the
Londoner. If a political event of some
importance takes place, it is sure to be
followed by flood of new fans upon
the market, and the Japanese, who
have the keenest sense of humor and
ridicule, find that to libel, or criticise,
nr-In0 frryn Inv nf q
fan, is safer and cheaper than by means
of the press. When Japan was first
thrown open to a certain extent to for
eigners, and even for some time after,
| until the natives grew accustomed to
their new guests, it was difficult to take
up fan without being confronted by
some hideous caricatuTe of Western
personal appearance, manners and Gus
toms. But now that every town-bred
native tries to look as much as possible
like an European, and that the common
| crowd have become familiar with ci-
| gars and breeches, the fountain head of
| fan ridicule is the powers that be. Fan
| libel is cheaper and safer mode of
| procedure than pen libel, because the
| public eensors are thoroughly ac-
| ouainted with the editors and proprie-
tors of the few public journals, while
| the number of fan artists and mer
chants is legion. Not always does the
reverse side-the palmer side-of the
Japanese fan bear well-known al
lusion. Sometimes it is simple Carl
cature, and an examination of one of
these caricatures reveals that, however
crude and sketchy the execution, the
most genuine vein of humor lies be-
meath it, especially if it be what is
deemed the forte of japanese earica-
turists-the delineation of grotesque
animals. Sometimes we get a bit of
landscape, the inevitable Fruji yama,
or tea house by torrent, or COIN
try side represented by few apparent
ly random dashes, of which each, how
ever, tells its tale-or we get one of
those weird moonlight effects of which
the Japanese are so fond. The gre at
characteristic of all these is truth to
nature. The rabbits nibbling at bale
of rice may have clothes on, but they
are rabbits for all that; foxes espe-
cially are delineated in all conceivable
attitudes and costumes, but they are
perfect foxes; so with wild birds, frogs,
monkeys, fish and stOrks.
The gaudy side of the Japanese fan
is invariably serious piece of work,
and the scenes depicted are generally
either bits from a popular drama OF
from one of those countless legends and
stories which have delighted Japanese
of all classes and ages from time i'm
memorial, and in many cases bear so
strong family likeness to the stories
;. familiar to English childhood. The
popular actor in Japan shares with the
popular wrestler the privilege of bask
ING in the sunshine of the best circles o
society; he has always been very mucl
,, what the English popular actor prom
! ises to become, the darling of the
masses and the favorite of the Court
Consequently his portrait" appears or
, the fans, and although to us the faces
on japanese fans appear as like on
another as are the faces of Sir Pete
Lely's beauties in Hampton Court Pal
: ace, the Japanese citizen pretends t.
discover likeness by the accessories
So there are certain plays in whicl
= these actors take chief parts, and o
: which Toxic audiences never weary
and, as a rule, the printed side of tn
fan represents scene from one OF thes
: plays perhaps Karukaya, the sell
y exiled prince, with his child clinging t
him, or scene from the famous pla
l. of the s'Forty-Seven Ronins," or an in
y cident from the touching history G
e Gompachi and Komurasaki, or tn
Prince of Sendai lamenting his lost low
d on the shores of Takasago Bay. Th
legends and stories are plentiful
J. drawn upon by the japanese fan artists
It and every child knows at once when h
IS sees Inari, the fox god, or Hatchiman
the war god, or Iyeyas, the warrio
It priest, or Benten, the goddess of tn
n sea, or any other hero or heroine c
e popular mythology, just as. an Englis
e child knows Blue Beard or Cinderella
n All classes appreciate the artistic valu
r. of the fan in Japan. The great lor
at the Council, the merchant over hi
e. counting board, the priest presiding a
2, the money Golfer, the tea-house gil
v calling out to passers by to ''rest thei
3 honorable limbs" the pilgrim toiling u
the holy mountain, the coolie resting o
the pole-all see in it something t
J. amuse or something to interest. A
II the fan accompanies the Japan ese at a
e. hours and under all circumstances,
is not surprising that it plays somethin
l. more than the part of a machine fo
/ waiting cool air. To the illiterate man
II is book; to the oppressed man it is
reviver; to the political student it is
/ suggester; to the child it is a stor
u teller.-LondOn Globe.
1,
N Twenty three ostriches stalked Il
: to the New Orleans Times-Democrt