Observing the craftsmanship in 18 workshops around Kyoto, Japan, filmmakerKuroyanagi Takashi recorded how Japanese washi — Ganpishi, Kozogami, Mitsumatagami — is made, an 800 year old art.
[via]Branches of the (kozo, gampi or mitsumata) bush are trimmed, soaked, the bark removed, and the tough pliant inner bark laboriously separated, cleaned, then pounded and stretched.
The addition of the pounded fibre to a liquid solution, combined with tororo-aoi (fermented hibiscus root) as a mucilage, produces a paste-like substance when it is mixed.
It is this “paste” which is tossed until evenly spread on a bamboo mesh screen (called a su) to form each sheet of paper. The sheets are piled up wet, and later laid out to dry on wood in the sun or indoors on a heated dryer.
