It's cool in Seattle this evening but a few days ago it was quite warm so I broke out my old uchiwa.
An uchiwa, as you can see from the photo, is a non-folding fan. In times past these fans were sometimes very stylistic and highly decorated but in my experience modern fans tend to be pretty utilitarian.
They are commonly used in the home or office for cooling. They are lightweight and don't take much energy to produce a nice cooling breeze.
The uchiwa is used for other things too. One of my favorite memories is watching a yakitori master fanning the charcoal as he cooked skewered chicken. I think he used to purposefully fan the smoke and aroma toward the open spaces to attract customers to his stand.
The fan I have is an old one and it was probably made in Japan. The handle is a solid piece of cedar and as it transitions to the fan it is joined to bamboo which splits into ribs and forms the skeleton for the paper.
In contrast to the uchiwa there is the folding fan (oogi or sensu in Japanese). While the folding fan also serves the purpose of cooling it tends to be more decorative and although it can be used by both sexes, it is more commonly used by women.
No need for a fan tonight here in Seattle. The outside temperature at my place at 10:30 was 61 degrees and falling with a moderate north wind blowing. I'll sleep well tonight.
An uchiwa, as you can see from the photo, is a non-folding fan. In times past these fans were sometimes very stylistic and highly decorated but in my experience modern fans tend to be pretty utilitarian.
They are commonly used in the home or office for cooling. They are lightweight and don't take much energy to produce a nice cooling breeze.
The uchiwa is used for other things too. One of my favorite memories is watching a yakitori master fanning the charcoal as he cooked skewered chicken. I think he used to purposefully fan the smoke and aroma toward the open spaces to attract customers to his stand.
The fan I have is an old one and it was probably made in Japan. The handle is a solid piece of cedar and as it transitions to the fan it is joined to bamboo which splits into ribs and forms the skeleton for the paper.
In contrast to the uchiwa there is the folding fan (oogi or sensu in Japanese). While the folding fan also serves the purpose of cooling it tends to be more decorative and although it can be used by both sexes, it is more commonly used by women.
No need for a fan tonight here in Seattle. The outside temperature at my place at 10:30 was 61 degrees and falling with a moderate north wind blowing. I'll sleep well tonight.
posted from Bloggeroid
Was this from your phone? The picture took a few seconds to download but showed up nicely. Were you cooking as you fanned or just trying to stay cool?
ReplyDeleteYes, this post and picture were sent from my phone. It was warm so I took out the fan, more to admire its construction than to keep cool since we have a nice breeze here on the hillside. It is an amazing invention, light weight but very effective at doing what it was designed for.
ReplyDeleteThis might be my last post before I head for the airport tomorrow night. Posting from the phone seems to work so I'll try to keep you up to date as we go along.