,3 Pictorial fi 
Iranian. 
a me 
made of waterproof paper, which can he dipped in 
water, and which creates greater coolness by evapora¬ 
tion, without wetting the clothes. The uchiwa , or flat 
fan, is frequently made of feathers, leaves, or fine silk. 
It is oftener made of rough paper, and used as a grain- 
winnow, to blow the charcoal fires, and as a dust-pan. 
Probably it is on this account that it holds the lowest 
grade in the caste of fashion. 
The Japanese gentleman—I mean one of the old 
school—who never wears a hat, uses his fan to shield 
his eyes from the sun. His head, bare from childhood, 
hardly needs shade, and 
iiiisslfev-Si - .fii .!: : ■ JT ■ y "k;i] when it does he spreads 
SBlIlIrtH 1 W*'!• !| , 1 ' ' , an umbrella. With his 
fan ho directs his servants, 
1 and saves talking. With- 
; in-doors the graces of the 
Japanese maiden, and the 
dignity of the wife, are 
enhanced by the fan. To 
^ ie J a p anese act ° r the f an 
l||l|l|g SHll II iliHHi is indispensable, and he 
■HHilPMiipliil brings down the house by 
1|H| iHBflffiH the deftness, displayed in 
o r shutting it. 
In Japan the fan which opens and shuts, called the 
agi, belongs exclusively to the men ; and the flat fan, 
called uchiwa , is used only by women. For a Jap¬ 
anese gentleman to carry an uchiiva in the street 
would be such a dire breach of etiquette that I doubt 
whether auy sane one ever did such a thing. More¬ 
over, it is exceedingly impolite to use a flat fan in the 
presence of a Japanese gentleman, and neither by 
man nor woman must a flat fan he taken out-of-doors. 
The masculine native of the “Land of the Gods” in¬ 
variably carries a fan in 
his girdle or in the bosom 
of his flowing dress in hot 
weather; and not a few 
carry them all the year 
round. Among the lower 
classes the fan is stuck in 
the hack or over the neck '||' I’M' p 
under the collar, and is v? 
even safely stowed under 
the projecting cue of hair .t f-J ‘ ljr ~" .t 
which lies like a gun-bar- 
rel on the smooth-shaven 
■$'■■■.■ ss. ■ ' ■':» . 
scalp. Formerly, all Jap- - - 
anese gentlemen wore two pY;.- . jyf (, 
swords in their girdle. ' ’’J- ■ ‘1 
The custom was abolished . J 
in 1872; hut not a few of 
them, being long used to > '■ $$H| '£■ ' : §1 
their swords, and feeling k ' '' ■ <■ - L. j 
’ ° ■ 
the absolute need of some- 1 . ■. . 
thing to thrust in their 
place, bought fans on pur- 
pose to have one always 1 
in their belt. ’ 
It is very probable that 1; 
at least sixty million fans 
are made in Japan every fjfiH 
year. They have now be- ' WUfJ^A 
come an article of export L ,. - majilfp if 
to many countries. They ■ jlll /{I 
are cheap editions of Jap- V ' , ; i|: lyq 
anese works of art for the . • sfry^*; | f ? m jlml 
rich and poor of all the 
world to look at. Some 
people have an idea that mjiwl |S| 
the pictures on them are ggmABG&$ ’ 
exaggerations or mere im- 
agination. This is not so. lip' 
In general, the represen- I W ? fej 
tations are strictly true to 
life. The Japanese have 
no immense manufactories 
employing hundreds o f 
no centralized 
are put to a great many and curious uses, .Besides 
those in common use, the umpire at wrestling and 
fencing matches uses a heavy one, shaped like a huge 
butterfly, the handle being the body, and rendered im¬ 
posing by heavy cords of silk. The various motions 
of this fan constitute a language which the wrestlers— 
fat fellows, who look as though stuffed with blubber 
by means of a sausage-blower—fully understand and 
appreciate. Formerly, in time of war, the Japanese 
army-commanders used a large fan, having a frame of 
Il Ilili The Japanese dancing-girl 
HiMH fl makes the fan a very part 
” ^ “ ~” ~ ^ down the ^dge of sword, 
||j£k ! y Jm j from the cheap tube of 
bamboo and lacquered 
IMR ; \0S§Sk ". .. wood up to the splendidly- 
gilt and inlaid^case, c°st- 
B fans are put, or silver 
hooks, between which they 
hang. On marriage occa¬ 
sions, friends offer costly 
• •• • - .. gifts ; those who are ac¬ 
quaintances merely, usu¬ 
ally send a fan, on 
which are written congratulations. They are often 
used as cards by proxy callers on New Year’s 
Day. 
When a young man attains to office, or an officer 
is promoted, a fan with a line or two of writing sent 
him is the equivalent for congratulations in person. 
It is the custom to ask friends or distinguished per¬ 
sons to write their names, or some original poetry, or 
classic quotation, on fans, thus filling the place occu¬ 
pied by our mother’s, or father’s, or our own youthful 
“albums.” 
operatives 
capital; and tlie division- 
of-labor principle is hardly 
known 
Hence, fans are made by 
thousands of independent 
workers all over the coun¬ 
try, in hundreds of cities and villages. The place 
most noted for its production in this line, however, is 
Nagoya, in the province of Owari. Most of those 
which come to England are from this fourth largest 
city in Japau. Kioto is famous for very fine fans, and 
her artists excel in delicacy of tints and richness of 
coloring. Toldo (formerly called Yeddo) also pro¬ 
duces several millions annually. Ivory honed and 
handled fans, made for foreign ladies, and richly 
adorned with gold lacquer, mosaic, silk, cord, etc., are 
especially made in Tokio. 
among 
Enjoying Their Letters. 
