During the Meiji Restoration, "Hiõgi" signified a court fan.
In Japan (as well as China and Korea) small flakes of gold and silver were
placed in wet lacquer, and sank to various depths in the wet lacquer. After
hardening, this was then polished to allow the flakes to become increasingly
visible. In bold relief, this is called "taka-maki-e", in low relief, this
is called "hira-maki-e". Similarly, mother-of-pearl, jade, coral, malachite,
ivory, etc. can replace the flakes of gold or silver and be used in fan monture.
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