They’re one of the two traditional types of Japanese fans.

Unlike sensu, or folding fans,

uchiwa are rigid and fixed in shape.

Here in Gifu prefecture, a specific type of fan called Gifu uchiwa is produced.

These uchiwa originated during the Muromachi period of Japan

more than 500 years ago.

They were originally introduced as souvenirs

for people visiting to see the cormorant fishing on the Nagara River.

Today, Kazunari Sumii has the last store in Japan

dedicated solely to making Gifu uchiwa.

At 52 years old and more than two decades of experience,

he’s the 4th generation fan maker in his family.

First you take a stick of bamboo,

and then shave off the outer shell.

Bamboo fibers run vertically.

If you split the ends and then bend the stick back and forth,

it just splits evenly like this.

You see this joint part is thicker.

I put this part, called the bow,

through a hole I drill in that joint.

From there I tie a string to the ends of the bow

and thread it between the bones of the fan.

Tomijiro is my grandfather's name.

This store used to just be called "Sumii's Shoppe"

but my father added Tomijiro to it.

And we just never changed it since then.

The Tomijirou Sumii store has been rife with difficulties

difficulties since its inception over 100 years ago.

Tomijiro’s father passed away when he was a young boy.

In order to carry on his father’s work,

he apprenticed under another uchiwa craftsman to learn the trade,

and finally reopened the store after years of training.

Kazunari also lost his father early, at age 24.

That’s when he decided to take on the family business himself.

But since he had never trained under his father, either,

he had to teach himself how to make fans

from the memories of watching and helping his father when he was younger.

I carved these designs myself.

If the bones aren't stuck to the paper carefully,

then when I paint the fan later,

some of the bones could come loose.

These uchiwa are made almost entirely from products grown in Gifu.

Bamboo from Gifu’s abundant thickets,

and mino washi, a Japanese paper made from the kouzo tree.

Mino washi was designated as a traditional craft in its own right in 1985

by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

For the transparent designs on his fans,

Kazunari uses a specific type of mino washi called ganpishi.

They'll usually dry overnight.

After that, I run a tool down along the bones

to get them to stand out like this.

This part takes a while.

A file will get rid of the excess paper on the bottom.

And I get rid of the top part with this.

This is made of steel.

It's like a knife, but curved into a circle.

And that's how you get the fan's shape.

I made these tools. They slowly wear down like this.

When it gets bad, I'll replace it.

This is all I can show you today.

After this, I'll cap the edges of the fan and paint it.

Within Gifu uchiwa three types of fans stand out:

Shibu uchiwa is one of the largest varieties of fans.

Shibu is the name of a specific type of persimmon.

This fan is named after those persimmons because it’s covered in persimmon juice,

which makes it water resistant.

These fans are ideal for using to fan the flames of grills

in traditional Japanese restaurants.

The transparent paper mentioned before, ganpishi,

can be used to make a fan that’s completely transparent,

called mizu-uchiwa.

Mizu is the word for water.

But they’re not just called water fans because you can see through them.

In the past, mizu uchiwa would be dipped in water,

making the fan even more refreshing for its user.

This final type of fan is exclusive to Gifu uchiwa.

The fan is covered in shiny lacquer glaze,

making it far tougher than normal uchiwa.

Kazunari’s shop offers a version called ryomen-sukashi uchiwa,

or double-sided watermarked fan,

where you can see a transparent design cut into the middle.

You can find articles about Kazunari

and many more craftsmen on the website “Craftsman Times.”

The website is in both Japanese and English,

and it also has a blog section with articles about Japan

for people overseas who are interested in visiting.