Folding fans

A folding fan is a portable cooling device. It is easy to carry around folded up, and it can be snapped open in an instant to generate a breeze. During Japan's muggy summers, a fan is an essential accessory. Typically, fans are made of bamboo ribs and paper. The metal pivot, called a KANAME, a vital for keeping the ribs in place. If the KANAME is fixed too tightly, the fan will not open and close smoothly. But if it is too loose, the ribs will wobble. This part must be adjusted delicately, as it will have a great effect on how easy the fan will be to use. Paper is pasted over this framework, so that the fan will create a slight breeze when it is waved. And they are they are used to cover the face in moments of embarrassment, folding fans are often used as a form of silent communication between lovers.

Folding fans also play an important role in the world of the tea ceremony. When guests bow to greet the loss. they place their folded fans horizontally between themselves and the host. This it an expression of respect.

Folding fans also had an immense impact on the development of Japanese art. In the early 17th century, TAWARAYA SOTATSU, who had started out as a fan painter, created one of the masterpieces in the history of Japanese art. It is a folding screen depicting the God of Wind and the God of Thunder. The two delities are placed at the far edges, with a large empty expanse left in the centre. It is a dynamic composition that was very unusual at that time. A closer examination of the relative positions of the two delities reveals that they are oriented a long radial lines from a single centre point. It is thought that SOTATSU employed the compositional principles of fan paintings to create this masterwork. As these examples show. Folding fans have had a major formative influence on Japan culture