Making traditional Japanese paper
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Weeks ago, I drew something unusual on a traditional Japanese piece of paper at this place called Kami no Sato. I was surprised at the final result. This was not as bad as I thought it would be. I called my work "Furanpon." This is the mixing of two words: "Nippon" and "Furansu," my country of origin. At first, I drew a French flag. For those who forgot or never knew how it looks like, it is a 3-vertical-stripes flag, one blue, one white, one red. At the middle of the white stripe I drew a red circle to symbolize Japan. And the flag of Furanpon was born. . . .
This was no easy task actually, because you don't draw with a pen or a paintbrush. You use very obscure instruments. One is a sort of pump in the shape of a pear. The other one is a piece of wire that at first made me think of some surgical tool.
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The ink you use is actually mixed with a 100% natural preparation that becomes paper when it dries. So basically, you draw and write with colored and liquid paper . . . on paper (that is not completely dry).
You fill a bowl of colored liquid paper (many colors available) and you plunge your pear in the bowl. After pressing it, the (smelly) liquid is absorbed by the pear. You have to press (carefully) again the tool to make the substance go out and go on the piece of paper you want to draw on. While completing your work, you can enjoy the meaningful sounds the pressed pear produces (let's be clear and objective it sounds like fart sounds). Your piece of wire actually is some kind of surgical tool. It helps you skillfully correct your mistakes by picking the fibers of liquid paper and reshaping your work.
I might be confusing people here. Anyway the best way to understand would be for you to go there and try as well. You wait a week and then they send your dry work to you. I am actually very proud of my work now. It decorates my apartment and reminds me of this nice experience and the washi (和紙 Japanese-style paper) master who is doing is best to keep this tradition alive and environmentally totally friendly. His job is so nice, I really wish I were a washi master. . . .
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Experience the paper-making (紙すき Kami Suki) method of the famous paper used for the pages of the "Great History of Japan" (大日本史 Dai Nihon Shi) compiled under the rule of feudal lord Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川 光圀)
There are many different ways to produce paper in Japan but here you will experience the method from the "Nishi no Uchi Washi" school. This is a great opportunity to accomplish two parts of the production process, making the paper (Kami Suki) and making of a drawing, using your own fertile imagination.
For more information:
Kami no Sato (紙のさと和紙資料館)90 Funyu, Hitachi-Ōmiya-shi, Ibaraki
茨城県常陸大宮市舟生90
TEL: 029-557-2252
Fee: ¥1,000 (includes the shipping of your drawing) with reservation
Open: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (closed on Wednesdays)
How to get there
- By car
- Take the Naka Interchange exit from the Jōban Expressway, and go about 40 mins in the direction of Daigo along route 118
- By train
- 5 minute walk from the Naka-funyu station on the JR Suigun Line.
