Fan
Hi! I`ve been looking for any shops, that are selling "fans". I only found on Yutopian fans with signs of famous players (but only 3 of them). Does anyone know, where can I buy a fan (the best would be internet shop)? The best would be, when You can choose what do YOu want to have written on it (like "go" in kanji, or Your name).
Please help me! Ruca
Rafael Caetano: Nihon Kiin sells them, but I don't know if they ship abroad. There are top pros' fans (ask if you need help translating the names) and
others.
(I've seen that various pros (and characters in Hikaru no Go) have fans with them as they play. What's the signficance of this?) - RiiNamuras
Hylebos: I second this question.
HermanHiddema: Presumably the significance of this is that sometimes these people get hot and feel the need to cool themselves off by fanning themselves.
Bob McGuigan: The use of fans like this in Japanese culture goes way back, possibly for the reasons Herman gives. They serve many purposes in professional go and are used in all(?) the Asian go cultures. Usually they have mottoes written on them, perhaps with encouragement for the player or a souvenir of an admired master. Fiddling with them serves as a way to let off nervous tension. There is a nice article about them by John Fairbairn on the lamentably inactive MindZine site here. You can buy them from the Nihon Ki-in with calligraphy by famous Japanese players. I think they have blank ones, which go fans ;) in Japan often use to collect autographs of pro players. Rakuten, which sells these for the Nihon Ki-in (see Rafael's link above), will ship overseas. Most of the fans are around JPY1600 or JPY1700 plus shipping.