THE MEANINGS WOVEN IN
扇
ōgi / suehiro
A wish for a future that widens as it goes.
Folding Fan
01
Where it comes from
A folding fan opens from a single narrow pivot into a wide sweep. For that shape it is also called suehiro, spreading toward the end, and it has long been given at weddings and celebrations. The folding fan is said to have first been made in Japan, and it was carried at court and on stage. On cloth, the fan's face is often filled with another pattern, like a small painting.
02
On the cloth
On obi, fans may open one by one across the ground, or overlap as if dropped in a scatter. Here painted fan faces sit on white and silver with red and gold; fans join pine and chrysanthemum inside roundels on green and vermilion; and on a green tote, fans are traced in gold.
03
To give
The fan has been given for weddings, births, and new ventures, anything you hope will widen with time. It suits someone at the narrow start of something big.
A word to keep
末広がり
suehirogari
Widening toward the end. Said of things that grow brighter as time goes on.
