The Papermaking Process

Let us learn about the papermaking process, from plant to finished sheet.

From this point on, we will look at the various steps of the papermaking process. It usually starts with a very cold, wintry scene. The reason is that the washi papermaking process usually starts in winter. Look at the video to see the first stage in the paper manufacturing process.

Basics of Papermaking

The old Chinese Book of Later Han ((Hou Hanshu, 5th century C.E.)) records how paper was made by its inventor, Cai Lun (50-121 C.E.). Let’s trace together the basic process that he used.

^{fig.1. Book of the Later Han, Cai Lun is mentioned in the book
Click to see the book page closely}

The Papermaking Process

Stage 1

The first stage was to turn the plants or clothes made from plants material into fibers. As raw materials, Cai Lun used tree bark, hemp, rags, and fishing nets and separated the fibers using a stone mortar. Through this process, the cellulose was first extracted from the raw material.

Stage 2

The second stage was to immerse the fibers in water in order to favor hydrogen bonding between the fibers. To compose the fibers into sheets, Cai Lun used a flat sieve-like mat. The mat separates the fibers from the water and the fibers connect together to form a sheet.

Stage 3

The third stage consisted in removing the excess wetness and allowing the tightly connected fibers to dry.

This three-stage process became the basic process to make paper. Once this initial process was devised, the methods and the materials continued to evolve giving rise to a great variety of different papers.

The Papermaking Process in Ogawamachi

The video introduced the beginning of the papermaking process in Ogawamachi. In Ogawamachi, the process comprises 13 steps divided into 3 stages:

The first stage: from plant to fiber

1. Harvest the mulberry woods from the farm from November to January
2. Steam the mulberry branches
3. Peel the steamed mulberry branches, and dry the barks
4. Scrape off the outer black bark
5. Cook the barks in boiling water
6. Soak the barks in the water
7. Remove specks from the bark
8. Pound the bark
9. Beat the bark into a pulp

Stage 2: making a sheet from the pulp

1. Pound aibika (tororoaoi) with a wooden mallet
2. Make paper from the pulp

Stage 3: drying

1. Compress the wet paper
2. Dry the paper

Steps nos. 2 and 3 of the first stage are introduced in the video of this step.