Handmade Currency
One of the first acts of the new government after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 was to mint currency. In that year, the papermakers of Echizen (Fukui Prefecture) were given the task of making the country's paper money, which they did in the traditional manner until 1875, when machine production commenced. The Echizen papermakers developed a complex watermarking technique (called kurozukashi), which remains secret to this day and is still used by the government printing bureau for bank notes and official documents. Echizen has a long history of making a tough, durable, and beautiful paper called torinoko; one variant of this paper was used for bills, and another (called kyoku-shi) was used for all types of government certificates and official papers. Fine, handmade kyoku-shi has also been in great demand abroad under various names. |
| Indigo-dyed paper, Awa Paper |
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A Paper Country
About one thousand years ago, the paper workshop of the Japanese imperial court made gold- and color-embellished papers the likes of which have never been surpassed anywhere or at any time in the world. Politics and tastes changed, and this skill was lost, though examples of these decorated papers themselves have been preserved (the glorious Heike nokyo sutras, for example). The forces of history and economics over the years nourished papermaking, and by the end of the 17th century, Japan had become a country where paper had become an integral part of daily life. In contrast to the precious material of previous ages, made by imperial paper mills for the court and aristocracy, paper had become a peasant craft, made by farmers or entire villages throughout the country as a part-time, winter activity. By 1850, there were thousands of types of paper made in Japan. In 1914, in the Echizen area alone, there were an estimated 50,000 papermaking households. In 2001, there were 400 nationwide.
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| Board-drying paper, Tosa Paper |
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A Million Uses
Because Japanese handmade papers (best referred to by the generic "washi") are made of tough and durable bast fibers, such as paper mulberry, they can be employed for a far wider range of uses than rag or wood pulp paper. Japan (along with China and Korea), developed a wonderful and sophisticated paper culture. Washi, of course, is one of the four materials--wood, earth, paper, reeds--of a traditional Japanese house. Such a residence not only has light-refracting and heat-retaining shoji screens, but room partitions and storage closet doors are wood-framed paper structures. Such complex structures fully utilize washi's ability to protect and insulate as well as to breathe. Paper is also the main substance in hanging and folding screen mountings, in fans of all kinds, and in lanterns and lamps. Used as warm lining for silk garments, washi's durability is amply illustrated by the many such linings that have long outlived the textiles they once backed. Sheets of coated washi were also sewn into clothing as well as spun into yarn. Such tough paper yarn (shifu) was woven into cotton work clothes as weft, and (known as koyori), was also plaited into numerous decorative objects and containers such as pipe and tobacco cases, boxes, and the like. It has become legend that Rembrandt treasured the washi that found its way to Europe in his lifetime; without the absorbency and beauty of washi, the arts of calligraphy, painting, book printing, and woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) would never have developed.
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Picking out the dross from mulberry
bark, Tosa Paper |
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Winter Activity
Papermaking in Japan was a winter activity. It was slack-season work for farmers, and this allowed it to be made wherever there was a good and abundant supply of soft, running water and where the bast fiber plants could grow--a perfect industry for a mountainous country with heavy rainfall and short, swift rivers.
Making washi is a highly labor-intensive craft. It involves a mix of drudgery and developed skills. The techniques are largely straightforward and uncomplicated. Yet, one person cannot perform every aspect of making paper--it is a true community craft. And, cold is necessary in every phase of the work.
By far the most widely used bast fiber plant for washi is the paper mulberry (kozo); this and the mitsumata and gampi plants account for almost all traditional Japanese paper. Hemp, bamboo, and various other fibers account for but a tiny percent of the washi made, mainly for special purposes, such as calligraphy practice.
Visitors to a papermaking workshop view only the most spectacular step of the process--scooping pulp solution from the vat onto a screen. The repetitive and grueling toil in cold water and the many preceding stages and processes remain unseen.
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Making a folding fan,
Kyoto Folding Fans |
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Unique to Japan
Also little known is what sets Japanese papermaking off from techniques found everywhere else in the world--vegetable mucilage. The mucilage is added to the pulp solution in the vat, where it keeps the fibers in suspension and also has the magical effect of allowing wet, just-made sheets to be stacked and later separated without using interleaves.
The viscosity added by the mucilage means that the solution drains slowly through the screen. Excess solution on the screen is then tossed back into the vat. This solution tossing is unique to Japan and is the step of washi making most loved by photographers. With the exceptions of papermaking inspired by Japan, elsewhere in the world, the pulp solution is allowed to drain through the screen, and the paper is dried directly on the screen. In Japan, the wet sheets are stacked, pressed to remove water, then applied to boards or a metal griddle to dry.
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The Future
The demanding and labor-intensive craft of washi is not supported by Japan's affluence. Today young people have little desire to toil in cold water. All the papermaking communities in Japan have been trying to increase the appeal and sales of their products by producing decorative papers of many kinds and searching for markets and creative input. A very few people have felt the call of washi and have devoted themselves to its making and promotion. Though one can be hopeful for something new to emerge, the future of the purely traditional craft is not promising.
A sheet of off-white, hand-laid, board-dried washi is now a luxury item. Because it is expensive, such plain paper has drifted out of the everyday and into the world of art. Still, nothing can compare to or surpass the beauty of a simple piece of unadorned washi. |
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