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Japanese summers are extremely hot and humid. As the sun sets, people wearing yukata (cotton summer kimonos) with uchiwa in hand stand outside and enjoy the cool evening. This used to be a common sight in the summer, but electric fans and air conditioners have led to the decline in demand for uchiwa as a cooling device. The same applies to ohgi (folding fans).
In recent years, however, young people who are unfamiliar with kimonos have shown an interest in yukata as a casual fashion item, and luxury uchiwa are enjoying a revival as a fashion accessory. Uchiwa and ohgi are essentially energy-saving cooling devices, and will be increasingly used for that purpose as environmental problems become more critical, as well as enjoying popularity as fashion and interior decorating items.
Uchiwa are made by tearing a piece of bamboo into fine strips at one end and attaching a piece of washi (Japanese hand-made paper) on either side, leaving the other end intact as a handle. The more sections the bamboo is cut into, the more expensive it is. Even today, almost all luxury uchiwa are made by hand. There is a diverse range of designs—some exclusive items use silk instead of paper, feature the works of famous artists or well-known ukiyoe (Japanese wood-block prints), or sport innovative contemporary designs.
The bulk of uchiwa demand, however, is for plastic products made with molded plastic instead of bamboo. Plastic fans can be made for a fraction of the cost of bamboo ones and are often used for corporate advertising.
Many different tools that produce an air current for cooling purposes were designed in ancient Egypt and China. Some use plant leaves off-the-branch, others are made from torn and plaited grasses, horsehair, bird feathers, and various materials. These were not only used for cooling, but as fly swats and for threshing, too. Fans seem to have developed in a similar way in Japan, but from about the 8th century, when uchiwa were brought into Japan from China, Japanese fans have fallen into two categories - uchiwa and ohgi, the latter a folding fan. |
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| A festival scene. Uchiwa are used both as a tool for cooling down, and at times for further stimulating heightened mood. |
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| An uchiwa whose surface has been coated with the astringent component in persimmons. |
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