Washi

is traditional Japanese paper processed by hand using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (Edgeworthia chrysantha), or the paper mulberry (kōzo) bush. Washi is used in many traditional Japanese arts, such as origami, shodō, and ukiyo-e. It was traditionally used to make various everyday goods like clothes, household goods, and toys, as well as vestments and ritual objects for Shinto priests and statues of Buddhas. It was even used to make wreaths that were given to winners in the 1998 Winter Paralympics. As a Japanese craft, it is registered as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.

Because it is usually tougher than Western paper made from wood pulp, washi is often used to repair historically valuable cultural properties, paintings, and books at museums and libraries around the world, such as the Louvre and the Vatican Museums, because of its thinness, pliability, durability over 1000 years due to its low impurities, and high workability to remove it cleanly with moisture.

History

By the 7th century, paper had been introduced to Japan from China via the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese developed washi by improving the method of making paper in the Heian period. The paper making technique developed in Japan around 805 to 809 was called , a method of adding mucilage to the process of the conventional technique to form a stronger layer of paper fibers. The improved washi came to be used to decorate religious ceremonies such as gohei, ōnusa (:ja:大麻 (神道)), and shide at Shinto shrines, During the Edo period, many books and ukiyo-e prints for the masses made of washi were published using woodblock printing.

Manufacture

Washi is produced in a way similar to that of ordinary paper, but relies heavily on manual methods. It involves a long and intricate process that is often undertaken in the cold weather of winter, as pure, cold running water is essential to the production of washi. Cold inhibits bacteria, preventing the decomposition of the fibres. Cold also makes the fibres contract, producing a crisp feel to the paper. It is traditionally the winter work of farmers, a task that supplemented a farmer's income.

Paper mulberry is the most commonly used fiber in making Japanese paper. The mulberry branches are boiled and stripped of their outer bark, and then dried. The fibers are then boiled with lye to remove the starch, fat and tannin, and then placed in running water to remove the spent lye. The fibers are then bleached (either with chemicals or naturally, by placing it in a protected area of a stream) and any remaining impurities in the fibers are picked out by hand. The product is laid on a rock or board and beaten.

Wet balls of pulp are mixed in a vat with water and a formation aid to help keep the long fibers spread evenly. This is traditionally neri, which is a mucilaginous material made from the roots of the tororo aoi plant, or PEO, polyethylene oxide. One of two traditional methods of paper making (nagashi-zuki or tame-zuki) is employed. In both methods, pulp is scooped onto a screen and shaken to spread the fibers evenly. Nagashi-zuki (which uses neri in the vat) produces a thinner paper, while tame-zuki (which does not use neri) produces a thicker paper.

Japanese paper making 01.jpg|Preparing the liquid. Washi-making at Echizen, Fukui Prefecture

Japanese paper making 02.jpg|Pulp is scooped onto a screen.

Japanese paper making 05.jpg|The papermaker carefully stacks each wet sheet of pulp left on the screen one by one.

</gallery>

Types

With enough processing, almost any grass or tree can be made into a washi. Gampi, mitsumata, and paper mulberry are three popular sources.

Use, applications

In a washitsu (traditional Japanese room), the paper used—whether in the past or in the present—is essentially all washi, traditional Japanese paper, including the paper on shōji(:ja:障子) and fusuma(襖) sliding doors, the paper on andon lanterns, the paper of kake-jiku (掛軸, hanging scrolls), and the kaishi (懐紙) used in tea ceremonies(茶道).

In Japanese suibokuga(水墨画), sumi-e (墨絵, ink painting), ukiyo-e and nihonga (traditional Japanese painting), washi is still used even today.

In Japanese calligraphy (shodō, 書道), washi is still widely used today.

Washi is also used in watch dials.

Tatami Alcove (45063444665).jpg|All of the paper visible in this photo — the shōji screens, the andon lantern covers, and the kake-jiku (掛軸, hanging scroll) — is made from washi (traditional Japanese paper)

NDL-DC_2586549-28_Kawase_Hasui_S05_crd.jpg|Hasui Kawase (:ja:川瀬巴水) chose Echizen-washi as the paper for printing his works.

Sumi-e Mitsuru Nagata.png|Sumi-e

Cranes made by Origami paper.jpg|Origami cranes made of washi

Mino Washi Akari Art Hall ac (2).jpg|Modern application of Mino washi

</gallery>

<!--

It seems to be made from Western pulp paper, although the surface design is Japanese‑inspired.

Masking-tape.png|Washi tape

-->

Misnomer: "Rice paper"

The traditional Japanese paper washi is often mistranslated or mislabeled in English as “rice paper,” a term that has caused misunderstanding in English-speaking countries.

By contrast, in other languages and cultural contexts—such as French—washi is properly referred to as “papier Japon,” terms that more accurately convey its identity as Japanese paper without implying an incorrect ingredient.

References

External links

Washi