Pride of the Orient

.....Throughout Japan's history, both the Japanese folding fan and the Japanese hand fan have played significant roles in society and ceremonial traditions. The importance of the Japanese fan far exceeded its ability to keep people cool. It was used in an extensive range of social and court activities. The Japanese fan was also used in the military, as a way of sending signals on the field of battle. In the arts, Japanese hand fans were vital to the success of dance, the theatre and even in sumo wrestling, where the referee controls the contestants using a type of Japanese folding fan called "gumpai uchiwa", which means "military fan". Kabuki actors used Japanese hand fans in mass as well. Such artists as Kunisada created special Japanese fans for the followers of kabuki.

.....The rise of ukiyo-e woodblock printing in the Edo period sparked the development of a broad range of fan shapes and sizes. During this time, some women used the fixed Japanese hand fan called "uchiwa" while other women preferred the more traditional folding hand fans we see today called "ogi" fans. Both Japanese fans were in style and have been used by women since the Edo period. In the 1860s, Japanese fans gained popularity in Europe and were exported there in great quantities. European artists started to experiment on these Japanese fans, painting various and numerous types of scenes. During this time, it became popular to mount Japanese hand fans on a wall. These were probably the first Japanese wall fans used in Europe. These casual displays of the Japanese folding fan were extremely popular in fashion among every social level. In the last quarter of the 19th century, the Japanese folding fan became a symbol of the arts -- sophisticated, flirtatious, universally accepted and inexpensive.
.........We see, in these traditional beliefs, chopsticks acting as a bridge between gods and humans, and accordingly the modern Japanese word for chopsticks, hashi (箸), means “bridge.”.
Read less