This beautiful glass wind chime from the Shinohara Edofurin company has
been hand blown and hand painted on the inside using traditional
methods. The pink cherry blossom flowers - so typical of Japanese art -
will not, therefore, wear away or degrade over time.
The circular
opening at the bottom of the glass sphere is deliberately left
unpolished and uneven in order to produce clear sounds - each furin is
therefore unique in both appearance and tone.
A strip of paper,
or tanzaku, is attached to the central cord, which is held in place by
glass beads at the top, and sheathed in glass. When the tanzaku catches
the breeze, the glass sheath makes contact with the glass sphere to
produce a tinkling tone.
Wind chimes (furin) used to be placed in
each of the four corners of temples to protect them from evil. It is
still very popular in Japan to hang wind chimes from the eaves of a
house or in front of a window. We'd recommend hanging inside, or in a
sheltered spot e.g. under a porch or on a balcony.
Shinohara EdofurinNowadays
most glass wind chimes are cheap mass products made in large glass
factories. But there are still a few artisans who make hand blown and
hand painted glass wind chimes.
Edofurin has been producing wind
chimes for over 65 years. Widely recognized for their high quality
products, they still use traditional techniques to produce beautiful
furin: two glass balls are hand blown - a larger one for the main body
of the furin and a smaller one which is later removed to create the
opening at the base of the wind chime.
Measurements
Diameter of sphere: 7.5 cm (3 inches)
