Photo/Illutration An “uchiwa” traditional fan made in collaboration with the popular “Touken Ranbu--Online” internet video game title is shown Nov. 18 in Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture. (Urara Yukawa)

MARUGAME, Kagawa Prefecture--This winter is proving to be “hot” for one specialty maker of “uchiwa” handheld fans here.

To put it mildly, business is normally sluggish at this time of year. But that was before the Uchiwa Kobo Take studio began to adorn its products with an image from a much-loved online video game title. 

On Nov. 18, artisans at the studio were hard at work shaving bamboo struts and adjusting their shapes with wooden hammers to carefully produce uchiwa one by one.

“We’ve never had such a busy (winter) season,” said a 77-year-old craftswoman with about 20 years of fashioning fans under her belt. “Our products didn’t sell very well this past summer due to the COVID-19 crisis, so the timing couldn’t be better.”

Marugame, the center of uchiwa production in Japan, is renowned for the quality of its Marugame Uchiwa fans made of traditional “washi” paper and bamboo.

The company decided to decorate its fans with a video game character
who can magically conjure up a famous historical sword as “touken danshi.” It painted a character based on the motif of a Japanese sword called Nikkari Aoe, a family treasure of the Kyogoku feudal clan of the Marugame domain.

The collaborative product with “Touken Ranbu--Online” was proposed by the Marugame City Tourism Association after the Nikkari Aoe went on display at a special exhibition of the municipality-run museum for the first time in October and November after a two-year hiatus.

Hordes of fans of “Touken Ranbu” showed up at Uchiwa Kobo Take during the display period. August and September are its busiest months, but the studio temporarily closed due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Young people from all over the country visited us,” said Hiromu Hoshikawa, 85, head of Uchiwa Kobo Take. “It was a great opportunity to promote Marugame Uchiwa.”

The specially designed uchiwa is available for sale at (https://marugamekankou.stores.jp) for 2,000 yen ($17.60) after tax. For inquiries, contact the Marugame City Tourism Association.

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