Echizen Washi

Do you know well about `washi` ? ` Wa ` means ` Japan ` or ` something Japanese ` and `shi ` means ` paper `. We started calling our Japanese paper ` WASHI ` around in Meiji era, when the western paper, ` Yo-shi `, was introduced to our country, to distinguish our paper to the other.

Washi is originally made from KOZO, MITSUMATA and GAMPI, sometimes HEMP too. But those are expensive materials comparing to wood pulp, whose fiber is much shorter than of those four materials'. Few customers care about good quality of paper to use. So nowadays we use wooden pulp or imported KOZO, which makes me sad. 

The main reason I believe is that they just don't know how to use good paper and how good our Echizen Washi can be. 

Here is a picture of a paper made by Mr. Ichibei Iwano, the national living treasure in Japan. Can you see how long the fibers are ? Some paper conservators use his paper by tearing into the thinner.