Washi — Japanese handmade paper — is among the most extraordinary materials produced in any craft tradition. Inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2014 (three specific regional traditions: Sekishu-banshi, Hodomura no Ogawa washi and Echizen washi), washi is made from plant fibres using techniques refined over 1,300 years. Its extraordinary strength, translucency and longevity — documented specimens survive more than a thousand years — have made it the paper of choice for restoration work at the world’s greatest museums.
How Washi Is Made
Washi uses long fibres from the inner bark of the kozo (paper mulberry), gampi or mitsumata shrub. These are harvested in winter, steamed and stripped, then boiled with wood ash lye to break down non-cellulose components. The cleaned fibres are beaten — traditionally with wooden mallets on stone slabs, now often with beaters — until they swell and separate into individual filaments. The beaten fibre is diluted in a large vat of water with a natural mucilage agent called neri (from the tororo-aoi plant), which slows drainage and allows even sheet formation.
The sheet is formed by dipping a bamboo-framed screen (su mounted in a keta frame) into the vat and rocking it rhythmically in two or three directions — a motion called nagashizuki — so fibres interlock evenly. Multiple dips build thickness. Formed sheets are couched (stacked with absorbent boards between them), then pressed and allowed to dry slowly on wooden boards in the sun or in heated drying rooms. The final sheet is peeled free — strong, smooth and slightly lustrous.
Major Washi Regions
Echizen, Fukui Prefecture: Japan’s largest and most diverse washi production area, with over 1,500 years of documented history. The Echizen Washi Village (Papyrus no Sato) in Imadate Town includes a washi museum, artisan studios open for observation and a hands-on papermaking workshop hall. Visitors make their own sheets and may add decorative elements including pressed flowers and coloured fibres. Echizen is accessible from Fukui City by train and bus.
Mino, Gifu Prefecture: Mino washi is famed for strength and delicacy — it supplied paper for shoji screens and official documents throughout the Edo period. The Mino Washi Museum in Mino City offers English-language workshops. The city’s preserved merchant district, with traditional shoji-screened machiya, provides an atmospheric context for the washi culture.
Ogawa and Higashi-chichibu, Saitama: The Ogawa-Shirosato district produces Hosokawa paper (UNESCO listed) for cultural property restoration and calligraphy use. Several papermaking studios here accept visitors for half-day workshops including full sheet formation from prepared fibre.
Yame, Fukuoka: Yame produces washi for lacquerware base papers, shoji screens and incense wrapping. The Yame Traditional Crafts Museum combines washi with the area’s lacquerware and doll-making heritage.
What to Make in a Workshop
Most visitor workshops produce a single A4-to-B4 sized sheet of basic kozo washi using prepared fibre and a simplified nagashizuki technique. This takes approximately 30–60 minutes including instruction. More advanced workshops lasting 3–4 hours allow participants to produce thicker sheets, add decorative elements or experiment with different fibre preparations. Finished sheets are dried on-site or rolled for transport. Many workshops also offer the simpler tamesuki method (dipping-only, without the lateral rocking motion) suited to children and short sessions.
Workshop fees range from ¥800 (simple tamesuki) to ¥3,000–¥5,000 for full nagashizuki with artisan guidance. Advance reservation is required at most specialist papermaking studios; museum facilities in Echizen and Mino accept walk-ins on most weekdays.
Buying Washi
Production washi for purchase comes in hundreds of varieties: plain sheets for calligraphy and printing, patterned chiyogami for origami and craft, thick sheets for bookbinding, translucent sheets for lamp shades and window screens. Tokyo’s Haibara shop in Nihonbashi and Itoya stationary in Ginza carry curated selections. Regional washi markets near production centres offer widest variety at lowest prices. Washi travels well rolled in cardboard tubes — it resists crumpling and tearing that would destroy machine paper.