PAPER INDUSTRY, 415 



umbrella makers who do not go to the silk mercer rather than 

 the paper dealer for material to cover their frames. 



In Eastern Asia, bast paper has till now been a substitute for 

 glass in windows and in lanterns also. The paper lantern, Japa- 

 nese Chochin, plays its part still in Japan. No house is without 

 it. The houses and verandahs are lighted with them at night, and 

 with their help one picks his way afoot or in Jinrikishas on the 

 street. They illuminate the water on the evening boat ride. Tea 

 houses, theatres, and other pleasure resorts are distinguished by 

 rows of variegated paper lanterns, and in the great temple feasts, 

 occurring every year in honour of the popular gods, the Chochin 

 are a feature in the parades, which somewhat resemble those of 

 the Carnival. Often a whole street, even an entire quarter, in the 

 vicinity of the temple is adorned in this way with paper lanterns. 

 Like the green fir-tree of the modern via trmmphalis, here on both 

 sides of the streets are rows of bamboo canes, hung with beautiful 

 lanterns, and sometimes canopied with a large umbrella frame, 

 whose long beams are trimmed with alternating white and red 

 paper flowers. 



The best known articles made of Japanese bast paper ^ which 

 have found great popularity in Europe, and still more in America, 

 are fans. They are called Ogi, i.e. those that shut up, and Uchiwa, 

 the simple round stiff fans. Both kinds have been made for cen- 

 turies for the home market, chiefly in the three capitals or Fu 

 (Kioto, Osaka, and Tokio), and likewise for foreign countries in 

 later years. Other cities, such as Nagoya and Fushimi, also take 

 more or less part in the manufacture. The export of fans has 

 given a new impulse to the industry, and effected moreover a 

 division of labour as in a factory, as was not formerly the case to 

 such a degree. There are pattern designers whose sketches fashion 

 the work, houses which furnish only the bamboo frames, and others 

 in which the handles are lacquered and ornamented. Another 

 group of persons undertakes the painting or printing of the paper, 

 upon which the foreign customer often exercises an influence, 

 though not always with good taste. 



Frames and decorated sheets for covering both sides of the fan 

 are then given into the hands of other workmen, who are again 

 divided into several groups, and whose first work consists in folding 

 the paper to correspond with the bamboo ribs. A sheet of paper 

 is pasted on one side of the frame and the corresponding second 

 painted sheet is bound on to the other side in the same way. When 

 this is done, the fan must be opened and shut repeatedly, and fixed 

 here and there in imperfect places so that the paper will lie easy 

 in the folds and spread without difficulty, as occasion demands, 

 and as only such a tough and pliant material as bast paper will 

 permit. This is the manner of proceeding with the Ogi or folding 



^ This is in many cases superseded by a light cotton or silk fabric. 



