Marugame Uchiwa Museum

photo by Toto-tarou · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Toto-tarou · CC BY-SA 3.0

90% of Japan's uchiwa are made here, in a museum that moved in 2023.

Marugame produces about 90% of the uchiwa (flat fans, not folding ones) sold in Japan, over one hundred million a year. The museum, in Nakazu Banshōen Garden, offers live demonstrations of how they are made.

According to local tradition, they originated in 1600 with a monk who brought the technique from Kyūshū, then became work for samurai in peacetime in the seventeenth century: in 1997 Marugame uchiwa were recognised as a national traditional craft by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The museum left its harbourside site (うちわの港ミュージアム) for Nakazu Banshōen Garden on 25 March 2023, under the name Marugame Uchiwa Museum.

ℹ️ Open 9:30–17:00 (last entry 16:30), closed on Wednesdays (the following day if Wednesday is a public holiday). Free admission; hands-on workshops to make your own uchiwa cost extra. Located on the north side of Nakazu Banshōen Garden.

🚉 Sanuki-Shioya · 13 min walk

Sources: marugameuchiwa.jp · marugameuchiwa.jp · marugameuchiwa.jp

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