“Folding Fan” is not rare in the world, are they? The “Hand fan” has been used for a long time in many parts of the world, you know.

Well, the Japanese “Folding Fan” also has quite a long history. It seems that fans with flap-open/close construction were used around in the Heian period (about 700 years ago). What is it about the Japanese “Folding Fan” that makes it so attractive? The answer is that it has a very strong connection to the Japanese traditional performing arts. Speaking of traditional Japanese performing arts, there are “Noh”, “Kyogen”, “Kabuki” and “Rakugo”, etc. In every performances, “Folding Fan” is used as an important prop. In both of them, it’s apparently an indispensable tool for depicting emotions, scenes, or beauty, etc. Sorry, we don’t know why it’s a “Folding Fan”. There was something else that could have been substituted, don’t you think so? However, in addition to being portable in everyday use, it was that simple but complete functional kind of beauty, that may have been an important factor in these traditional Japanese arts. Well, it’s clear that Japanese culture is squeezed in “Folding Fan”.