Inshu Washi has a very long history, and although its exact origin cannot pinpointed, there can be no doubt that washi has been made for over 1300 years in this land. which is so suitable for making paper.
The academic research report of the "Japanese paper of Shosoin" (1970) introduces "Inaba no kuni Miyake keicho dankan (remnants of an account book of the Yamato ruling system, country of Inaba)" (721) as the oldest existing example of Inshu Washi. "Inaba no kokushi no cho (official document of the provincial governor of Inaba)" (765) describes it as being "Paper making based on the kozo (Broussonetia kazinoki) accumulation method". In addition,"Engishiki" (967) or a collection of Heian era statues, clearly states that washi had been dedicated to the Court by the country of Inaba.
In the Keicho period (1596-1615). and via the Red seal ships trade that was then operated by Lord Korenori Kamei. washi was also exported to foreign countries as well. The Edo period was a prosperous time for as it had been authorized as the feudal domain's paper washi of Tottori. The term ebutterfly creste in the papermaking song refers to the swallowtail butterfly-shaped family crest of lkeda. the feudal domain lord of the time. in January 1975 Inshu Washl became the first to be registered as a national traditional art craft of all the other Japanese paper production areas across Japan. In August the following year eInshu Saji mitsumata papere and 'Inshu Aoya kozo papere were also registered as intangible cultural heritages of Tottori Prefecture. Recently it has been utilized as a finish for the walls of the of the prime minister and the surface of a large paper lantern hanging at the Kaminari-mon gate of Scnso-ji temple in Asakusa. thus Increasing its topicality even more.
Bark is tucked into the iron blade and pulls the black outer bark off for peeling off.
* From the Aoya washj studio collection.
Used to compress the water contained in the kamidoko (moist paper stack). Nowadays it is almost been completely substituted for by hydraulic types.
* From the Aoya washj studio collection.
Nowadays there are very few people who can make them but in the past they were made at people's homes or by the "village master craftsman". Typically made of rice straw.
* From the Aoya washj studio collection.
"It's certainly true that this paper is of excellent quality. How comfortable it is to write on! Never encountered a better sheet of paper. I could write two pages with this paper but only one with other types of paper. On top of that it"s wonderful that no matter how much I write the ink never seems to run out with this paper. And because I can write so quickly I barely need to dip my brush in the ink-stone." "The paper is indeed fude kirezu (keeps the brush going)."These quotes come from a critical biography of Heijuro Tanaka from Saji. who was dedicated to spreading the word on mitsumata paper. The meanings of "the kind of paper that never damages the tip of your brush no matter how much you write and that lets you write without the ink getting patchy" was added to the phrase of "fude kirezu". which then became the name of the paper. That name now is a testimony to the high quality of the paper.