Umbrella Culture
Thanks to sutafairu for posting Kagrra,'s Kakushin ~To inside of the core tour 2008~ Pamphlet, I am developing this liking towards those traditional Japanese umbrellas, haha.
You know, every time it rains, we pop open that little umbrella, but if the rain is accompanied by that horrifying, blustering wind, the little umbrella seems pretty useless. Worse, it may even flip inside out. =_=
Ironically, in Asia, the umbrella was reserved for the privileged society. The umbrella had a status symbol of warding off evil spirits. (Isshi and his banishing of the demons, hehe) Umbrellas were also created more canopy-like so they could not be opened or closed. Hrm, so much for stuffing those in your backpack...
But here's the awesome tidbit I wanted to share. There are five types of Japanese umbrellas:
1)Traditional Japanese umbrellas or Wagasa (和傘): made of bamboo (竹), wood, and washi (和纸: Japanese traditional paper), fortified and made waterproof with persimmon, linseed oil and China wood oil
2)Bangasa (番伞): traditional rain umbrella made of bamboo and oiled paper
3)Janome (蛇の目: umbrella in snake eye pattern): blue in the center and at the edges, white in between, and looks like the eye of a snake when viewed from above. This umbrella does have variations, such as painted black rings on the surface and the application of other materials.
4)Maigasa (舞伞) or Buyôgasa (舞踊伞): wonderful parasol used traditionally for classical Japanese dance, is more lightweight in nature, allowing for delicate and graceful moves. Maigasa is status symbol of “mai”(舞) dancer but not be used in the rain.
5)Nodategasa (野点傘): a type of umbrella used for shade in Japanese processions and open air tea ceremonies (茶の湯)
Annnd, a traditional Japanese umbrella has 30-40 ribs whereas a typical Western umbrella has only 8 ribs. I wonder if that's the reason for the inability of those flimsy umbrellas to really protect me from the rain, hahaha.
Source: Rubell's Antiques and Flickr Hive Mind
You know, every time it rains, we pop open that little umbrella, but if the rain is accompanied by that horrifying, blustering wind, the little umbrella seems pretty useless. Worse, it may even flip inside out. =_=
Ironically, in Asia, the umbrella was reserved for the privileged society. The umbrella had a status symbol of warding off evil spirits. (Isshi and his banishing of the demons, hehe) Umbrellas were also created more canopy-like so they could not be opened or closed. Hrm, so much for stuffing those in your backpack...
But here's the awesome tidbit I wanted to share. There are five types of Japanese umbrellas:
1)Traditional Japanese umbrellas or Wagasa (和傘): made of bamboo (竹), wood, and washi (和纸: Japanese traditional paper), fortified and made waterproof with persimmon, linseed oil and China wood oil
2)Bangasa (番伞): traditional rain umbrella made of bamboo and oiled paper
3)Janome (蛇の目: umbrella in snake eye pattern): blue in the center and at the edges, white in between, and looks like the eye of a snake when viewed from above. This umbrella does have variations, such as painted black rings on the surface and the application of other materials.
4)Maigasa (舞伞) or Buyôgasa (舞踊伞): wonderful parasol used traditionally for classical Japanese dance, is more lightweight in nature, allowing for delicate and graceful moves. Maigasa is status symbol of “mai”(舞) dancer but not be used in the rain.
5)Nodategasa (野点傘): a type of umbrella used for shade in Japanese processions and open air tea ceremonies (茶の湯)
Annnd, a traditional Japanese umbrella has 30-40 ribs whereas a typical Western umbrella has only 8 ribs. I wonder if that's the reason for the inability of those flimsy umbrellas to really protect me from the rain, hahaha.
Source: Rubell's Antiques and Flickr Hive Mind