和傘Wagasa (paper umbrellas)

An oil-paper umbrella (Chinese: 油紙傘; Chinese: 油纸伞; pinyin: yóuzhǐsǎn, Mandarin pronunciation:) is a type of paper umbrella that originated in China. It subsequently spread across several East, South and Southeast Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Philippines — where it was further developed with distinct characteristics.

In addition to being used for shade, oil-paper umbrellas are also traditional wedding items. In traditional Chinese and Japanese weddings, the matron of honor would cover the bride with a red oil-paper umbrella upon her arrival to ward off evil spirits. Purple umbrellas are a symbol of longevity for elders, while white umbrellas are used in funerals. Oil-paper umbrellas are also used as props in Japanese traditional dances and tea ceremonies.

In the early Hakka society, two umbrellas were usually given as dowry, due to the "paper" (纸) and "child" (子) homonym in the language (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chṳ́), symbolizing a blessing for the woman to "give birth to a son soon", a propitiatory compliment to the newlyweds at the time. As the character "umbrella" contains five "people", giving the umbrellas also represents a blessing for the couple to have many sons and grandsons.

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