A folding fan that won't slowly close on you when you fan with your left hand — because it's built the other way round.
Most folding fans are made for the right hand, so when a left-hander fans with their left, it slowly closes. This one is built in reverse: the ribs overlap the opposite way, so it opens correctly and stays open in your left hand. It's a Nagoya fan, handmade by Suehirodo, a maker working in the city since 1912.
Finished for the left hand
On a standard fan, the ribs overlap so it opens cleanly in the right hand — which is exactly why a left-hander fanning with their left feels it slowly close. Here the overlap is reversed. It opens the right way for the left hand and holds open as you fan, so your fingers rest naturally against it.
Made by Suehirodo, a Nagoya fan maker since 1912
Japan has two main homes of fan-making, Kyoto and Nagoya. Where Kyoto is known for dance and decorative fans, Nagoya is known for formal and everyday ones. This fan is made by Suehirodo, a workshop in the Nishi ward of Nagoya, running since 1912. A left-handed fan is genuinely harder to assemble than a right-handed one — even experienced makers find it difficult — and each passes through more than twenty steps by hand.
The "Tonbo" design
Tonbo is the Japanese word for dragonfly. This design shows dragonflies in silhouette, resting on leaves over a pale blue ground. Look closely and the brushed blue is threaded with a little yellow and green near the top, like a soft multi-coloured edge.
A note on scent
Suehirodo lightly scents the ribs with a traditional fan perfume — a calm, Japanese-style fragrance meant to be enjoyed in the moving air. If you have a fragrance sensitivity, please take care.
Handling with care
This fan is built specifically for the left hand, and its structure is delicate. Opened the wrong way — in the standard right-handed direction — it can break in a single motion, so it's worth letting family or friends know before they pick it up. As a handmade piece in washi and wood, small wrinkles or a little visible glue can occur, especially on darker colours; that's part of how it's made. Fan gently, and avoid pressing on the inner ribs.
Specifications
- Closed size: 22.5 × 2.5 cm (approx. 8.9 × 1 in); slight variation, as each is handmade
- Material: Washi (Japanese paper), wood
- Comes in a gift box
- Country of origin: Japan
