Kyo Uchiwa

A handle added after

The mark of a Kyo uchiwa is the sashi-e: the handle is made separately and fitted afterwards, instead of being one piece with the ribs. Thin bamboo ribs are laid out in a fan one by one, then covered with washi decorated by metal leaf, cut work, hand painting or woodblock printing. Beyond cooling, many are made for display, including delicate openwork sukashi fans. With Boshu uchiwa and Marugame uchiwa it is one of Japan's three great uchiwa. It is made in Kyoto and Nantan in Kyoto.

Rib by rib

• Fine bamboo is split into thin ribs, which are set out radially one at a time.
• A decorated washi cover is pasted on.
• Lines are pressed along each rib with a bamboo spatula.
• The fan is trimmed to shape and edged with a thin strip of paper.
• Finally the handle is inserted.

From pirates to the palace

Kyo uchiwa trace back to the Nanboku-cho period, when Korean fans brought to western Japan by wako pirates passed through Kii and Yamato to Fukakusa, where Kyoto nobles had villas. The fitted handle became standard from the Edo period, beginning with gosho uchiwa painted for the court by Tosa and Kano school painters, and soon spread to ordinary people.