Washi has been made for over 1500 years in the Echizen area of Japan. I show the traditional way of making washi paper and a new paper that is fountain pen friendly and much cheaper.
Watch the companion video where I show Ayako and Khuê visiting Echizen and all the fun stuff they did! https://youtu.be/CMXK1wgkOTg
Yoshikawa Paper, under their paper line called Wakami, makes Torinoko washi paper notebooks and Sutenai Recycled washi paper notebooks. It is sold outside of Japan thru Cute Things From Japan's retail and online store.
Cute Things From Japan website: https://cutethingsfromjapan.com/
00:00 - Intro
01:34 - Washi Paper History and Uses
03:07 - Yoshikawa Paper
04:11 - Echizen
04:28 - Iwano Heizaburo Paper Mill
04:47 - The Raw Materials
07:05 - Making the Paper
10:15 - Goddess of Paper
10:58 - Ishikawa and the School
11:31 - Ishikawa Machine Made Paper
16:19 - Checking the Paper
17:29 - Seasoning the Paper
18:14 - Sutenai-"Don't Throw Away"
20:14 - How does Torinoko Washi Perform?
22:58 - How does Sutenai Recycled Perform?
23:31 - Paper Party
25:15 - Thoughts
Khuê IG: https://www.instagram.com/miraikat/
CY (Tokyo Station Pens) IG: https://www.instagram.com/tokyostationpens/
Dayna (the artist) IG: https://www.instagram.com/daydaydeebopp/
Little Lu (the graphic designer) IG: https://www.instagram.com/littlelu_lu/
Esther (wolf drawing) IG: https://www.instagram.com/wanderlustbytsl/
Miichos (drawings) IG: https://www.instagram.com/_miichos_/
Popunk (ink drawing) IG: https://www.instagram.com/popunk/
Music: "Sketches" by Ever So Blue https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/mz27MWGP9s/