Article: Hanagi: Giving New Light to Kyoto Fans Once Left Sleeping
Hanagi: Giving New Light to Kyoto Fans Once Left Sleeping
Hanagi is a decorative fan brand created by Japanese dancer Kiyoka Hanagi. A decorative fan is not made for everyday use as a hand fan, but to be displayed and appreciated as part of an interior space.
The story began with an encounter at a fan workshop in Kyoto, where fan paper and bamboo ribs had been preserved for many years. The fan paper is the washi surface on which the design is painted, while the bamboo ribs are the structural pieces that support the fan.
Standing before materials that had remained unused over time, Kiyoka Hanagi did not see old stock. She saw a beauty that could still live in someone’s space. A decorative fan finds its meaning when it is displayed. That realization became the origin of Hanagi.
What Gives Shape to a Single Fan
Chigami refers to the washi paper surface that appears when the fan is opened. Hanagi’s fan paper features hand-painted designs and colors. It is not always possible to know who painted each piece, or what thoughts were behind its creation. Even so, the traces of the brush and the layers of color retain the unmistakable presence of human hands.
The bamboo ribs are the structural parts that support the fan. Bamboo is light, flexible, and strong, allowing it to hold the form of the fan even when processed into thin pieces. Hanagi combines long-preserved fan paper and bamboo ribs while carefully checking their condition, giving them new life as decorative fans.
Tailoring is the process of joining the fan paper and ribs, then preparing the piece so it can be displayed. Hanagi fans are not finished products that simply remained in storage. They are tailored after an order is placed. Rather than preserving past handiwork as it is, Hanagi prepares it for today’s living spaces. This is the role that makes Hanagi distinct.
Details of chigami and bamboo ribs
Beauty Seen Through the Eye of a Japanese Dancer
The name Hanagi carries a sense of beauty and movement rooted in Japanese dance. It reflects the wish for each fan to remain quietly in the heart, like a flower, and to bring stillness and grace to the space around it.
On stage, a fan is not merely a tool. It receives the movement of the hand, the pauses between gestures, the direction of the gaze, and the flow of the air, transforming the impression of the scene. What Kiyoka Hanagi found in decorative fans was this same quiet power.
Elegant, yet never overpowering. Present in the room, yet restrained. Hanagi’s decorative fans are shaped by the sensibility of a Japanese dancer.
The Memory of Artisans Preserved in Sensu Danchi
The Background of Fans Preserved in Yamashina, Kyoto
The materials used in Hanagi’s decorative fans were preserved in a workshop located in the craft district of Yamashina, Kyoto, commonly known as Sensu Danchi. Sensu Danchi is a name for an area that developed as a production base where artisans and workshops involved in fans, Buddhist altar fittings, and related crafts once gathered.
Kiyoka Hanagi has maintained a relationship with this workshop for more than 20 years, visiting the site herself and confirming the background of the materials. The workshop did not operate as a retail store, but as a place centered on production. Hanagi’s role is to carry the materials left there on to their next owner.
A Fan Made Not for Use, but for Display
Hanagi’s decorative fans are not made for everyday use as hand fans. They are made to be displayed in a space. Placed in an alcove, entrance, shop, tea room, or any interior that seeks a touch of Japanese atmosphere, they add a quiet sense of brilliance to the room.
Cranes, cherry blossoms, flower carts, the Seven Lucky Gods, dragons, wind gods, and other motifs associated with good fortune and the seasons of Japan appear with a different expression in each piece. Because the same fan cannot be made again, the act of choosing one also carries a special meaning.
Displayed as a quiet accent in a Japanese-inspired space
Even in homes outside Japan, a decorative fan requires no large installation. Placed on a wall, shelf, or a small corner of an entrance, it brings Japanese seasonal feeling and auspicious motifs into the space.
From Past Artisans to the Next Owner
The value of culture is not determined only by a name or title. Culture remains alive when people encounter it, feel moved by it, and choose to pass it on.
Through the perspective of a Japanese dancer, Hanagi seeks to bring beauty that had remained unused back into the world. This is not simply a matter of preserving old things. It is an attitude of allowing them to live within contemporary spaces.
Connecting the handiwork left by past artisans to the next owner. Hanagi’s decorative fans are not only ornaments that enrich a room. They are also a quiet continuation of Japanese beauty.
Each fan carries a different expression of Japanese beauty
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