Gifu City: Japan’s Largest Manufacturer of Wagasa

Gifu City in Gifu prefecture remains Japan’s largest manufacturer of traditional Japanese wagasa umbrellas. We asked the Gifu Wagasa Association about the traditional manufacturing process handed down since the 17th century and the region’s history as an umbrella making area.

While umbrella making (currently called Gifu wagasa) in the city of Gifu dates back to the first half of the 17th century, it did not develop on a significant scale until after the middle of the 18th century. It is said that when Nagai Naonobu became the feudal lord of the Kano domain, which was based in Gifu, he encouraged lower-ranking samurai to engage in umbrella making to help pay their living expenses. Since that time, the area that included the Kano domain (today’s Gifu Prefecture) has been blessed with the materials needed for umbrella making, including fine-quality bamboo, washi,* vegetable oil, kakishibu,** and glue. Moreover, since the Nagara River and its well-developed water transportation system made distribution by ship convenient, umbrella making went beyond a side job for samurai, eventually becoming a regional trade. Before long, it was a stable, flourishing industry, as demand for umbrellas rose in the large cities of the day like Edo (today’s Tokyo) and Osaka. As a result, the present-day Kano district in the city of Gifu and the surrounding areas became the center of one of Japan’s most distinguished wagasa making regions, through to the 20th century. 

The golden age for wagasa production was after World War II, around 1950, when it is said that annual production exceeded 10 million umbrellas. In the 19th century, Japan relied on imports for Western-style umbrellas, but these gradually became to be produced domestically, and their popularity exploded with the postwar development of folding umbrellas. The subsequent appearance of cheap polyester umbrellas further drove this popularization. As a result, Gifu wagasa production fell sharply, but the area remains a representative wagasa making region of Japan, with most of the wagasa used in Japanese buyo dancing and other entertainment said to be manufactured here.

Gifu wagasa developed through a system in which wholesalers managed the artisans and divided umbrella making labor into over 100 processes, each of which was handled by a specialist, thereby achieving both efficiency and minute detail in production. This system was especially proficient at making hosomono (thin umbrellas), which are thin and compact when folded. Hosomono form slender, slim silhouettes when closed, and are often used as janome (snake-eye) wagasa for the performing arts, as well as umbrellas for traditional Japanese buyo dancing, and parasols.

Gifu wagasa have been valued traditionally for their slenderness, delicacy, and beauty, but another defining characteristic is the high quality of their elaborately formed structural design. When actually opening the umbrella, the user is fascinated by the delicate beauty of the geometric patterns created by the threads sewn into the inside, as well as the beauty of the light streaming in through the washi paper. In addition, the pitter patter of the rain, the gentle fragrance of the vegetable oil applied for water resistance, and the feel of the bamboo when taken in the hand offer delightful sensations that only craftwork made from natural materials can provide.

In addition, the Kawara district along the Nagara River in the city of Gifu is attracting attention as a tourist destination with its traditional wooden buildings that line the area and lasting remnants of the old townscape. Gifu wagasa specialty shops have also opened in recent years, and are communicating the appeal of Gifu wagasa as traditional handicrafts. The Sakura Wagasa (cherry blossom umbrella), which was made by a young Gifu wagasa artisan, caught many eyes on social media, and was also used for promoting an overseas movie. While strolling through the traditional streets, you may want to look for an attractive Gifu wagasa to use as a parasol for the hot season.

* Washi is Japan’s unique paper, made by hand from paper mulberry, oriental paper bush, and other plant materials that are native to Japan.
** Juice squeezed from unripe persimmons, which is then fermented. It is used as a dye, strengthener and preservative for paper, wood, and hemp.
*** The janomegasa is a small type of wagasa characterized by its rounded ring pattern. The snake’s eye pattern symbolizes the eye of a snake, messenger of a god, and was also meant to ward off evil.