Kyo Uchiwa
Friday, 17 July 2009
All images are from http://www.kyo-aiba.jp/
京うちわ。
"Uchiwa" is a paper fan which is one of the symbolic items of Japanese summer, it's part of our culture. We are often given them for free on the streets these days, the ones that have advertisements on them. But I'm talking about a different type of Uchiwa now - Kyoto style Uchiwa.
Kyo Uchiwa Aiba is the oldest paper fan maker in Japan that has 300 years of history. They do make Uchiwas for daily use, but they make Uchiwas more for decorative and artistic purposes. It's really amazing how Uchiwas can be such beautiful pieces of artwork, they are just superb!
The caption for the first image from Kyo Uchiwa Aiba's website was "Uchiwa gift as substitute for a flower bouquet". Well I've told you how horrible our summer is already, keeping fresh flower at home can be a difficult thing at this time of year. How wounderful would it be to receive a gift like this in summer! Well it'll be much more expensive than sending fresh flowers, but if you want to really please someone I think Kyo Uchiwa would be a perfect gift choice!
Kyo Uchiwa Aiba (Japanese Only)
More about Uchiwa here in English
Absolutely beautiful, gossamer and translucent. Thanks for sharing these.
ReplyDeleteI actually hadn't seen anything like these myself, but aren't they amazing? I would love to have a closer look in real life, maybe next time I go to Kyoto!
ReplyDeleteso delicate!
ReplyDeletethese are beauuutifuuul! i have never seen uchiwa like these. i need to go to kyoto one day...happy sunday to you!
ReplyDeletehi ii-ne-kore,
ReplyDeletetotemo sensai.
did you see this in kyoto?
hi kinako,
apparently there was an exhibition held of this kyo uchiwa in NY a few weeks ago, you might have the chance to see it somewhere outside japan but yes I want to go to kyoto to see this too!
i love to learn about your culture, hiki!
ReplyDeleteyour blog is a gift!!