Engineering:Harisen

A man being hit with a harisen

The harisen (ハリセン/張り扇, meaning "slapping fan" in Japanese) is a giant paper fan, usually made in a closed fashion. It is most traditionally used as part of a manzai act, in which the straight man (tsukkomi) smacks the funny man (boke) in response to their jokes or idiocy.

In popular culture

• The psychopathic character Kazuo Kiriyama is given a harisen in the movie Battle Royale.
• Kaname Chidori of the anime Full Metal Panic uses a harisen that she seems to pull out from hammerspace to stop Sousuke Sagara from doing anything that could injure or kill a civilian in Tokyo (at one point, her harisen is seen to be extendable and takes up as much space as a matchbox).
• In the manga Negima!, character Asuna Kagurazaka wields a giant sword-sized harisen that later transforms into an enormous single-edged sword.
• The character Dr. Eto in the series Nodame Cantabile is known by the nickname "Harisen" because he uses one to punish his students.
• In the video game Persona 5, the characters can use an ability called, “Harisen Recovery”, in which they use a giant harisen to heal status effects inflicted on fellow party members.
• In the video game series Super Smash Bros. up until Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a large fan (called "Harisen" in the Japanese version, but simply "Fan" in Western versions) is a usable item. Characters can wield it as a very fast weapon, causing minimal but repeated and nigh-unstoppable damage to enemy characters. The item's trophy in Brawl mentions its origin as a manzai prop. Additionally, in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, one of Banjo & Kazooie's attacks from Banjo-Tooie (in which Banjo uses Kazooie as a bludgeon) reappears, and is referred to as "Harisen Kazooie" in Japanese as according to the director, Masahiro Sakurai. This ability was originally called "Breegull Bash" in English.

See also

• Slapstick, a wooden device traditionally used in the West for a similar purpose.