“Cold Paper Making” in Yoshino: the Washi of Atelier Fukunishi Washi Honpo

Paper atelier Fukunishi Washi Honpo lies in a gentle village in the Yoshino mountains. Washi-maker Masayuki Fukunishi lives and works here with his wife and daughter, and is its sixth generation head. A cosy (and delightful) organised mess of paper rolls and piles, and books and photos, and tools and inspirations – and a black cat that wanders about at will – the studio provides Uda paper (Uda-gami) to some far-flung and prestigious places. The Met, The British Museum, and the MFA in Boston, among others, use it as a backing paper for Japanese paintings.

The atelier is also the official provider of washi paper to the Imperial Household of Japan. It is not only used for art restoration and calligraphy – Fukunishi’s washi has been used in interior design (as, for example, wallpaper), and the graduation certificates of the local primary schoolchildren are made from it too, by the pupils themselves.

Fukunishi’s paper is handmade from beginning to end using traditional techniques that have been handed down for over a thousand years. Essential ingredients are local mulberry bark and the water of the nearby Yoshino River. After harvesting, the mulberry bark (kozo) is steamed, peeled, and boiled in wood ash. It is mixed with white soil – also local – and bound by a plant-based glue. Since this glue only functions in the colder months, the whole process is undertaken between October and May. Once complete, the sheets are laid out dry naturally in the sun on long boards, and the unusual sight of reams of paper amid the fields conjures up a sense of days gone by in Japan’s old villages.

If not traveling on foot, the atelier is accessible from Kintestu Yamato-Kamiichi station by 15 minute cab ride.

Open: 8am-12pm, 1pm-5pm

Workshops for making washi are also available on request.