is traditional Japanese paper. The term is used to describe paper that uses local fiber, processed by hand and made in the traditional manner. ''Washi'' is made using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (''Edgeworthia chrysantha''), or the paper mulberry (''kōzo'') bush. As a Japanese craft, it is registered as a UNESCO

intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...

. ''Washi'' is generally tougher than ordinary paper made from wood pulp, and is used in many traditional arts. Origami, Shodō, and Ukiyo-e were all produced using ''washi''. ''Washi'' was also 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 Buddha. It was even used to make wreaths that were given to winners in the

1998 Winter Paralympics The , the seventh Paralympic Winter Games, were held alongside the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan from 5 to 14 March 1998. They were the first Paralympic Winter Games to be held outside Europe. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as 2022 it remain ...

. ''Washi'' is also 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 because of its low impurities, and high workability to remove it cleanly with moisture.

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

fibre Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

s. 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 Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...

, fat and tannin, and then placed in running water to remove the spent lye. The fibers are then

bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

ed (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.

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 ''nagashi-suki (流し漉き)'', a method of adding mucilage to the process of the conventional ''tame-suki (溜め漉き)'' 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, and in the Heian period, washi covered with gold and silver leaf beautifully decorated books such as ''

Kokin Wakashu The ''guqin'' (; ) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favoured by scholars and Scholar-bureaucrats, literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinemen ...

''. In the Muromachi period, washi came to be used as ceremonial origami for samurai class at weddings and when giving gifts, and from the Sengoku period to the Edo period, recreational origami such as orizuru developed. During the Edo period, many books and ukiyo-e prints for the masses made of washi were published using woodblock printing.

Types

With enough processing, almost any grass or tree can be made into a washi. Gampi, mitsumata, and paper mulberry are three popular sources. * – In ancient times, it was called . Ganpishi has a smooth, shiny surface and is used for books and crafts. * – Kōzogami is made from paper mulberry and is the most widely made type of washi. It has a toughness closer to cloth than to ordinary paper and does not weaken significantly when treated to be water-resistant. * – Mitsumatagami has an ivory-colored, fine surface and is used for shodō as well as printing. It was used to print paper money in the Meiji period.

Applications

Until the early 20th century, the Japanese used washi in applications where Western style paper or other materials are currently used. This is partly because washi was the only type of paper available at that time in Japan, but also because the unique characteristics of washi made it a better material. The different uses of washi include:

Art

* Chiyogami – a method of stenciling or screenprinting paper with traditional Japanese designs * Ikebana – the art of flower arrangement, also known as kadō * Inkjet printings * Kami-ito – pure-fiber washi paper spun into thread * Katazome – a method of dyeing fabrics using a resist paste * Kitemaking * Mokuhanga – Japanese art of wood printing * Nihonga – Japanese paintings * Origami – Japanese art of paper folding *

Printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...

* Sculpture * Sewing *

Shibori is a Japanese manual tie-dyeing technique, which produces a number of different patterns on fabric. History Some discussion exists as to the origin of as a technique within Japan, and indeed, the exact country of origin of some of the earlies ...

– several methods of dyeing cloth with a pattern * Shifu – washi that has been spun into yarn (kami-ito) and woven into cloth *

Shodo also called is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrins ...

– Japanese art of calligraphy * Sumi-e – Japanese art of Ink wash painting * Suminagashi – Japanese art of paper marbling * Ukiyo-e – a genre of

Japanese woodblock prints Woodblock printing in Japan (, ''mokuhanga'') is a technique best known for its use in the ''ukiyo-e'' artistic genre of single sheets, but it was also used for printing books in the same period. Widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (160 ...

Washi eggs A washi egg is a decorated egg commonly created at Easter, using Japanese washi paper (as used for origami), glue, and varnish. Washi eggs are made into ornaments and decorations. __NOTOC__ Technique A washi egg is made by first blowing the egg t ...

– covering eggs with washi paper *

Chigiri-e is a Japanese art form in which the primary technique uses coloured paper that is torn to create images, and may resemble a water colour painting. The technique dates from the Heian period of Japanese history when it was often used in conjunctio ...

– using Washi for "painting" pictures

Clothing

Cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...

* Kimono * Obi *

Zōri Zori (), also rendered as zōri ( ja, , ), are thonged Japanese sandals made of rice straw, cloth, lacquered wood, leather, rubber, or—most commonly and informally—synthetic materials. They are a slip-on descendant of the tied-on sandal. ...

Cuisine

* Tempura

Furniture

* Cushion * Futon * Shoji

Objects

* Bags * Bento box * Harae-Gushi, the washi whisk used for ritual purification by Shinto priests * Japanese banknotes *

Loudspeaker cone In the field of acoustics, a diaphragm is a transducer intended to inter-convert mechanical vibrations to sounds, or vice versa. It is commonly constructed of a thin membrane or sheet of various materials, suspended at its edges. The varying air ...

s * Ofuda for Shinto * Plates * Printing *

Scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...

s * Toys * Umbrellas * Watch dials

Events

* Japanese festivals *

Sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

Weaponry

* Fire balloons

Literature

References

Weblinks

*
Washi
{{Authority control Japanese paper Ukiyo-e Visual arts materials Origami Japanese art terminology