Paper Parasol

Our town in Japan is home to one of the few remaining traditional paper parasol (wagasa わがさ　和傘) makers. The Prefectural news came and filmed a documentary on the owner and the parasols, to show how wagasa are not only making a comeback, but they can be worn with anything, not just traditional kimono. 

They had many people show up, some dressed formally in spring kimono, some in casual wear, and, since we know the owners, some foreigners as well. This was a random shot of the parasol, that a friend of a friend happened to be in, and I love it.

We were interviewed about our respective countries (USA for us, New Zealand for our friend), about impressions of Japan, handmade Japanese goods, and, of course, wagasa.

::::: 和傘 :::::

Wagasa are parasols made from paper and bamboo. Each one of these, at least, are from handmade paper too. They take approximately two months to make, much of that is letting the oil dry in thin coats. The actual assembly takes about 50 hours each. They are waxed or oiled, so they can be used in the rain, amazingly. The inside posts on them are also sometimes decorated with colored threads woven in interesting patterns to compliment the paper - those with the threads are women's parasols, men's usually do not have that. After carrying one around for the day, they're amazingly light and do a fabulous job of blocking the sun. If you look close at some of the pictures, you can see that the top is finished off with a cap made of more paper, or sometimes fabric. Every time you look at them, you do see something new.

If you would like to see a bit about the wagasa, you can visit the site for our local maker (all in Japanese), or read about them on Wikipedia. If you want to consider ordering one, let me know and I'll help you!

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