Kurimin Shibu Uchiwa Small Round Fan Ito Jakuchu Shamo Rooster by Kurikawa Shoten

Beat the summer heat with a fan that blends classic Japanese art and centuries-old folk craft. This Kurikawa Shoten Komaru handheld fan (uchiwa) is printed with a bold gamecock motif taken from Ito Jakuchu's Edo-period painting Nanten Yukei Zu (Rooster and Nandina), created for Y. & SONS's original "Ito Jakuchu" yukata collection. The design is printed on handmade Japanese paper stretched over a bamboo frame, bringing striking artistic energy to a traditional cooling accessory.

The fan itself carries centuries of heritage. Uchiwa making is said to have begun in 1600, when a traveling monk from Marugame, Shikoku taught the craft to villagers in thanks for a night's lodging. In Kumamoto's Raimin district, artisans coat their fans in homemade persimmon tannin, a technique that strengthens the washi, extends its life for over a hundred years, and even repels insects. Because "raimin" sounds like the phrase for "the people will come," these tannin-dyed fans have long been given as good luck charms for business prosperity.

Kurikawa Shoten is the only workshop still producing Raimin uchiwa today, keeping alive a tradition that once ranked alongside Kyoto and Marugame as one of Japan's three great uchiwa production centers. Frames are cut from bamboo grown in the Aso caldera, then covered in handmade washi and finished with hand-applied persimmon tannin, the same method used in the early Showa period, when nearly every household in town took part in fan making.

This piece measures 195 x 375mm and comes with its own dedicated fan case, ready to give as a gift or keep as a durable, beautifully aged summer companion for years to come.