Ninety percent of paddle-style fans, called uchiwa, are made in the island city of Marugame.

There are only 1,600 inhabitants of Osaki-Shimojima island, and at least five generations of the Matsuura family have sold them clocks and watches.

Designers and dealers find the greatest meaning in some of the smallest examples.

Jiro Katayama’s designs for his Otsuka Lotec brand take inspiration from hand-held movie cameras and speedometers.