A Year of Raw Material It’ll soon be harvest season in Oguni and I’ll be heading back this year to assist with work that represents the culmination of a year of effort: months of ploughing, weeding, and thinning climax in 6 weeks of intense labour to process the bark from plant to fibre, ready for […]
oguni kozo harvest Read More »
The long-delayed launch of Washi Academy wasn’t a single decision, but the result of multiple circumstances aligning — like constellations finally forming a recognizable pattern, just clear enough to act on. My solitary time in Toronto during the pandemic, despite the difficulties surrounding my mother’s illness, granted something invaluable: uninterrupted space for honest self-examination. I
Washi Academy At Long Last Read More »
Washi is featured in volume 35 (Spring/Summer 2015) of Kateigaho International Japan Edition, a luxurious, super-glossy magazine detailing different aspects of Japanese art and culture. The article is relatively brief, but is a mostly fine introduction to washi, especially for beginners. Unfortunately, there are a few factual errors and what I imagine are errors in
Nice Magazine Article Read More »
There’s a great passage in the equally great article “The Man Who Sailed His House” about expectations and work, which says a lot, I think, about the Japanese work ethic. “After hellos, you take your place in the first shed, running tree trunks through the table saw to make rough boards, the fanged blade in ceaseless
I just love this object from the Suntory Museum exhibition “Washi: The Timeless Beauty of Japanese Paper.” What you are looking at is an antique (Meiji period, so at least 150 years old) ream of Japanese paper, with straw thread between sheets to count them, topped with a sheet of chirigami to protect the bundle, and
Old Ream of Handmade Paper Read More »
Sugeta is the name for the two-piece tool used to create sheets of Japanese paper in the traditional nagashizuki method; the tool corresponds to the western mould and deckle, but is a little different in its construction. The two pieces of the sugeta are the su and the keta. The keta is a double frame
I started writing a post about washi tape, but realised that before I get to that I’ve got to take a closer look at washi itself. I’ve encountered the discussion of “what is washi” repeatedly over the last few years, and I’d like to examine the origin, meaning, and usage of the word washi. So,
Part 1 of this post described neri and spoke of its essential role in the sheet-forming process. Part 2 will look at some of the common mistakes that are made when referring to neri, and look specifically at how neri is prepared and used. MISCONCEPTIONS As mentioned in part 1, there are some common misconceptions
Together with the prepared bast fibres (kozo, mitsumata, and gampi), and sufficient cold, clean water, the third essential ingredient in the Japanese papermaking process is neri. Neri is a mucilaginous liquid derived from plants (usually tororo-aoi—see part 2 for a detailed description) that is added to the papermaking vat. Adding neri slows the drainage of
