和紙の違い

Although there is no formal system to classify the papers used in traditional Japanese books, there is a great variety. One of the ways to treat the paper during the production stage of the sheet is to add rice flour or rock or mineral powder to the mixture. Paper without such additives is called kigami (“raw paper”) or Kisukigami (“processed paper”). Kigami prepared for use, by, for example, treating it to make it easier to write on or prevent smudging, is called jukushi (“finished paper”). Two important finishes are the eishi (“polished paper”) and the uchigami (“hammered paper”). Here we have a book in the Shido Bunko collection that is made of eishi paper.

The part where the writing goes was rubbed with a hard object such as the tusk of a wild boar to make it easier to write on it.

In this book here, the uchigami technique was applied to the paper. The entire sheet was hammered with a wooden mallet, again, to make it easier to write on it. When you examine a book made by uchigami paper closer, you can find traces of water. When you hold it, you will also find that it’s heavy. That is the result of this uchigami process. (Making of Uchigami in Kyoto ) Brush each sheet of paper with a brush to moisten it. After stacking the wet paper overnight, Clasp the paper to the cloth and beat it with a mallet on a stone.

In addition to these processes, there are many ways to prepare or decorate paper, including mica-based methods and the tsugigami process.

Now, let’s continue to explore the varieties of washi paper.