VILLAGE Report vol.12 Chiba Prefecture | Boshu Uchiwa, Bamboo’s Natural Roundness Used as the Handle

The fifth installment in our Kanto series takes us to Chiba Prefecture. The first item in Chiba Prefecture to be designated a national Traditional Craft Product was the “Boshu Uchiwa” fan, passed down in Minamiboso. Alongside Kyoto’s Kyo Uchiwa and Kagawa’s Marugame Uchiwa, it is counted as one of Japan’s three great uchiwa fans.

Chiba’s first designation, in 2003

According to Chiba Prefecture, Boshu Uchiwa was designated a national Traditional Craft Product by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry on March 17, 2003. It was the first such designation in Chiba Prefecture. The secretariat of the Boshu Uchiwa Promotion Council, which supports the production area, is located in Tateyama City Hall.

Using bamboo as the handle without splitting it

The most distinctive feature of Boshu Uchiwa is the handle. Rather than using a flat, shaved board-like handle, it makes use of the natural round shape of slender medake bamboo. The upper part of the bamboo is finely split to create the ribs, which are woven with thread to form the “window” that serves as the base of the fan face, then finished by applying paper or cloth. A single piece of bamboo runs continuously from the handle to the ribs.

The southern Boso Peninsula was a source of high-quality bamboo used to make uchiwa fans and folding fans. In the Meiji period, bamboo was shipped to Tokyo, and later uchiwa craftspeople and wholesalers from Tokyo moved to the area. It is said that this is how a material-producing region became a finished-product region as well.

Key Points
・One of Japan’s three great uchiwa fans, alongside Kyo Uchiwa and Marugame Uchiwa
・Designated Chiba Prefecture’s first national Traditional Craft Product on March 17, 2003
・The round medake bamboo is used as the handle, while the upper part is finely split to form the ribs
・The bamboo-producing area became the product-producing area as well

In Tateyama City and other areas, there are also facilities where visitors can try making uchiwa fans. Uchiwa may be strongly associated with summer, but when you hold the rounded bamboo in your hand, you can really appreciate the delicacy of its construction.

Last time, we visited Chichibu Meisen in Saitama Prefecture. VILLAGE Report vol.11 Saitama Prefecture is here. For highlights of Chiba Prefecture, see the Chiba Prefecture edition of the 47 Prefectures Guide here. Next time, we will visit Tokyo.

References: Chiba Prefecture, Tateyama City, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries

—The Value Village Editorial Team

Photo: wupeng / CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)