I’m again from Japan, and subsequent week, we’ll return to the common Sunday Paper. This week is all about my journey – I hope you’ve time to learn it.
However first, I wish to remind you that The Paper 12 months is open to new members via July tenth. We discover a special method and venture each month, and the third quarter launches tomorrow with Paper Inflatables, just like the pink one under that I noticed at Ozu Washi in Tokyo (what a coincidence)! Learn extra and signal as much as be part of The Paper 12 months.
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Now, Japan!!!
The Japan Paper Tour was an 11-day journey in June of 2024. The seed was planted once I traveled there with my husband in late 2019. I blogged about that journey right here – Half 1, Half 2, Half 3 – and began accumulating names of those that could be all for touring with me sooner or later. The pandemic set in shortly afterwards, however the journey lastly got here to life 5 years later.
Pre-Tour
I flew to Japan every week earlier than the tour started to acclimate and recover from jet lag. Two individuals joined me for a few days in Tokyo adopted by a short journey to 2 of the Artwork Islands (Teshima and Naoshima). In Tokyo, we went to paper outlets: Itoya (like a paper Disneyland, stuffed with eye sweet + crowds); Paper Nao (hand painted papers – 1000’s of them!); and Ozu Washi (a beautiful store with a museum and demonstration space). We additionally stumbled throughout the Fukui Antenna Store, that includes craft merchandise (together with paper) from Fukui prefecture, the place we have been headed first on the tour. We caught up with Paul Denhoed at dinner one night, who’s related to Oguni Mill in Northern Japan. I do know Paul from my time in NYC once I labored at Dieu Donné and he labored at Kate’s Paperie.
Day 1: Practice to Takefu
Our group converged at Kansai Airport’s Resort Nikko, the place we had dinner collectively and spent our first night time. Our journey planner (and Kyoto information later within the journey), Masa Fujiwara, greeted us and despatched us on our approach to our first cease, Echizen Paper Village.
L to R: Masa Fujiwara (JP), Helen Hiebert (CO), Linda Armstrong (GA), Diane Tomasso (CO), Helen Spielman (NC), Karen Jones (CO), Jill Powers (CO), Gina Pisello (WA), Kathy Bayard (NC), Eric Avery (TX), Michelle Scarlett (ME), Susan Mackin Dolan (CO).
We took the prepare to the model new Takefu Station, a couple of miles from the paper village, after which walked via the rice fields to a enterprise resort, the Route Inn Takefu – be aware the road signal to the Japanese Paper Village. June is scorching and steamy in Japan, and purchasing (principally for paper) was a giant a part of the tour. At this cease, we loved fruit popsicles after arriving on the station.
Day 2: Mill Visits + Paper Shrine
The tour’s inception got here from my earlier journey to Japan once I met Nick Cladis, who teaches papermaking on the College of Iowa Middle for the Ebook. Nick lived in Echizen for six years and spent a day giving my husband and me a pleasant tour of a number of mills, adopted by a potluck dinner with members of the papermaking neighborhood there.
We took taxis into the paper village every day, the place we met up with Nick, who was our information and translator. We spent an hour every at three completely different mills. I might write a full weblog submit about every go to, however to maintain this temporary, I’ll share one tidbit from every. At Igarashi Mill, we noticed the three principal crops utilized in papermaking (kozo, mitsumata and gampi) and realized a couple of scientist who’s making an attempt to domesticate gampi, which could be very troublesome to do; at Yamaguchi Mill, we met the husband and spouse group (and their apprentice) who create attractive single and double-layer sheets which might be all board dried; and at Taki Mill, all of us obtained to strive spraying into the pulp on an enormous sheet of paper.
That afternoon we visited the Okamoto Otaki Shrine, the one shrine in Japan to be devoted to Kawakami Gozen, the goddess of paper.
Day 3: Extra Mills + A Paper Distributor
We started our day on the shrine once more (a very good taxi drop-off location) and walked to Yanase Mill, the place we gaped at two younger papermakers working in tandem to create large sheet after sheet. Mrs. Yanase confirmed us how she makes hikkake paper, an uncommon stenciling method. Subsequent, we visited Osada Mill, the place the proprietor shared a number of of his methods with us. Many of those mills create massive sheets for fusuma door panels and different interiors, equivalent to lighting and wallpaper. Our third mill that day was Ryozo, the place they make paper by hand, after which make the most of a conveyor belt system – that they sofa the sheets onto – to press and dry the sheets. In addition they create two completely different sorts of lace papers, and we have been handled to an illustration.
That afternoon we visited paper distributor, Sugihara Shoten, who has an exquisite showroom the place we noticed extra papers from quite a few mills round Echizen, in addition to merchandise created with the papers and particular initiatives which were facilitated with corporations like Fendi.
Day 4: Udatsu Paper & Craft Museum and Paper Retailers
We divided into two teams and break up our time between studying the right way to make Japanese paper on the Udatsu Paper & Craft Museum and visiting a number of paper outlets within the village. Every participant obtained to strive their hand at making 2 massive sheets of paper, which positively takes some getting used to – my sheets have been nothing to jot down dwelling about, however I really loved the expertise.
Day 5: Journey to Gifu, then Mino: Lanterns + Umbrellas
I met Andrew Dewar about 3 years in the past, when he joined my Fb group, The Paper Studio. He participates in our “flaunt it Fridays” virtually each week, however extra importantly he’s an professional paper folder, specializing in paper objects that fly. After I realized that he lived in Gifu, close to Mino, I requested him whether or not he wish to information us for a few days. I knew that Isamu Noguchi had been within the space within the 1950’s to assist modernize their collapsible lanterns (in case you can’t make it to Japan, you possibly can go to Noguchi’s outdated studio simply exterior of NYC). Andrew took us to Ozeki & Co., the place Noguchi’s Akari Lights are nonetheless out there, together with the normal Gifu designs. Then we went to Kawara-Machi and visited Gifu Wagasa, a pleasant store that sells paper umbrellas. We have been capable of step into the workshop and meet a younger craftsman who prepares the bamboo elements for the umbrellas.
After touring in Gifu, we had a beautiful meal on the river – I feel we counted 10 programs – after which took the general public bus to Mino.
Day 6: Paper + Gentle
As luck would have it, a paper colleague who had been in Mino launched me to Akiko Furuta, who lives on the town and is a volunteer tour information. After a short tour of everybody’s room within the conventional Japanese ryokan (Nipponia Mino Service provider City Resort), stuffed with conventional shoji screens, attractive woodwork, fusuma paper doorways, and gardens, views), Akiko generously handed out brochures and took us to a couple websites, stating others for us to return to on our personal later within the day. Mino has a number of paper and lantern outlets, and Hideka Kano gave a vigorous miniature chochin (collapsible lantern) demonstration. Mino has an annual paper lantern competitors, and the Mino Washi Akari Artwork Gallery is stuffed with modern designs. The afternoon was topped off with an origami lesson with Andrew, who taught us the right way to make three completely different designs, two which flew.
Day 7: Journey to Kyoto
We re-connected with Masa in Kyoto, who deliberate a three-day itinerary of historic websites within the mornings, leaving our afternoons free to go to paper outlets and artists. Masa is married to Sarah Brayer, an American paper artist who has been in Japan for 40 years and was my connection to Masa (I met Sarah when she got here to make work at Dieu Donné in NYC within the mid-1990’s).
We had time for a couple of actions between our prepare experience to Kyoto and checking in on the Celestine Resort Gion (Masa selected glorious resorts and deliberate our prepare journey). Our first cease was within the higher meals courtroom on the Kyoto prepare station, the place Eriko Horiki, a paper artist who has achieved set up and lighting work throughout Japan, did a current ceiling set up piece. Subsequent we visited Sanjusangen-do, a Buddhist temple with a fantastic corridor that homes 1001 life-sized, picket statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy (carved in Japanese cypress lined in gold leaf). Subsequent, we visited Kawai Kanjiro’s home, tucking right into a small doorway that opened up into an exquisite dwelling designed by the ceramic artist within the 1930’s, full with an enormous kiln out again.
Day 8: Kyoto Zen Tour
I feel it will be cool to be a tour information like Masa, who has an opportunity to go to these particular websites throughout completely different seasons. I can solely think about Ryoan-ji within the spring (with flowers) or fall (with colourful leaves). The rock backyard was gorgeous and contemplative in summer season too. I realized that the primary rocks in Japanese rock gardens have a minimum of half of their “physique” buried underground. We headed to Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion subsequent, a Zen temple whose prime two flooring are fully lined in gold leaf. Masa is aware of the abbot at Zuiho-in, positioned in an enormous complicated of Daitoku-ji which hosts numerous Zen temples. The abbot served us tea and answered our questions in regards to the temple and his life there. After a scrumptious lunch on the temple grounds, a number of of us wandered via the streets of Kyoto to a cloth store, an indigo store, Aizenkobo (the place we obtained to see the vats of indigo) and Morita Washi.
Day 9: Day Journey to Nara
We took two vans to Nara, the previous capital of Japan and a Unesco World Heritage metropolis. Our first cease was at Todai-ji, which options the Nice Buddha Corridor housing the world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana. We walked via Nara Park to Kasuga Taisha Shrine. I really obtained misplaced with a few tour members and missed seeing this web site (with quite a few stone lanterns, darn!) however this sentiment makes up for it:
“Identical to in historical occasions, companies are provided each morning and night, and nonetheless at present, prayers are provided for nationwide and international peace, and for the happiness and wellbeing of all folks”.
After lunch on the Nara Resort – of architectural curiosity and constructed for visiting dignitaries in 1909 (Helen Keller and Albert Einstein amongst them) – we visited Horyuji temple, which homes the world’s oldest surviving picket constructions.
Day 10: Arashiyama Tour
Once we have been in Kyoto in 2019, my husband and I rode our bikes from our airbnb to Arashiyama, a shocking bamboo grove. This time, we traveled by prepare and walked throughout the river into the beautiful neighborhood that’s adjoining to the forest, meandering via a couple of gardens on the best way, the place we noticed a lotus flowers in full bloom. That afternoon, we visited the Chushin Artwork Museum, the place the artist Kyoko Ibe met us and talked about her work in handmade paper. What a deal with to listen to her communicate in regards to the work. A number of of us visited Rakushikan Paper Store afterwards.
Day 11: Printmaking
Many of the group visited Karamaru on our final morning in Kyoto, a conventional printmaking store that I’d stumbled throughout in 2019. They apply the karakami model of woodblock printing, which entails putting a sheet of paper on prime of the block (they’ve a set of 300-year-old woodblocks) and hand rubbing every print. We participated in their printing expertise (we watched a brief video, adopted by an illustration, after which every us us obtained to print 3 sheets). On the finish of our session, the grasp printer confirmed us how he prints fusuma door panels, which requires 24 passes and plenty of shifting the paper round with excellent registration. A number of of us visited Kamiji Kakimoto afterwards, one other fantastic paper store that was inside strolling distance (the shelf within the photograph homes papers made by hand from numerous mills in Japan).
Studio Tour + The Grand Finale
That night, we went to Masa and Sarah’s home for a studio tour with Sarah Brayer, who works in paper, creating work in Echizen in addition to in her pretty standalone studio. The tour was adopted by a dinner that Masa ready along with his assistants.
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The grand finale was actually particular. We have been seated at a desk in entrance of fusuma door panels that have been painted by Sarah, when Masa opened the doorways to unveil a room behind them. A geiko (geisha) was sitting there in entrance of a wall of shoji screens. She carried out three dances for us and answered our questions.
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I’d by no means achieved something like this (organizing, planning and main a tour), and I actually loved it. I beloved being in Japan, and I’m contemplating placing collectively one other one in 2026. Be at liberty to let me know in case you’re all for coming alongside. Within the meantime, I bought fairly a little bit of paper (which I unveiled in a number of current posts over on Instagram). I’m maintaining some for myself, however I’m making a sampler for these of you who would really like a collection of distinctive papers from Japan. I’ll provide these on the market later this week, and also you (my weblog readers) together with my e-newsletter subscribers, would be the first to listen to about it. Thanks for for following my paper journey!
