I’m again from Japan, and subsequent week, we’ll return to the common Sunday Paper. This week is all about my journey – I hope you have got time to learn it.
However first, I need to remind you that The Paper 12 months is open to new members by July tenth. We discover a special method and venture each month, and the third quarter launches tomorrow with Paper Inflatables, just like the pink one beneath that I noticed at Ozu Washi in Tokyo (what a coincidence)! Learn extra and signal as much as be a part of The Paper 12 months.
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Now, Japan!!!
The Japan Paper Tour was an 11-day journey in June of 2024. The seed was planted once I traveled there with my husband in late 2019. I blogged about that journey right here – Half 1, Half 2, Half 3 – and began gathering names of those that could be enthusiastic about touring with me sooner or later. The pandemic set in shortly afterwards, however the journey lastly got here to life 5 years later.
Pre-Tour
I flew to Japan every week earlier than the tour started to acclimate and recover from jet lag. Two contributors joined me for a few days in Tokyo adopted by a quick journey to 2 of the Artwork Islands (Teshima and Naoshima). In Tokyo, we went to paper outlets: Itoya (like a paper Disneyland, full of eye sweet + crowds); Paper Nao (hand painted papers – 1000’s of them!); and Ozu Washi (a stunning store with a museum and demonstration space). We additionally stumbled throughout the Fukui Antenna Store, that includes craft merchandise (together with paper) from Fukui prefecture, the place we had been headed first on the tour. We caught up with Paul Denhoed at dinner one night, who’s related to Oguni Mill in Northern Japan. I do know Paul from my time in NYC once I labored at Dieu Donné and he labored at Kate’s Paperie.
Day 1: Prepare to Takefu
Our group converged at Kansai Airport’s Resort Nikko, the place we had dinner collectively and spent our first night time. Our journey planner (and Kyoto information later within the journey), Masa Fujiwara, greeted us and despatched us on our strategy to our first cease, Echizen Paper Village.
L to R: Masa Fujiwara (JP), Helen Hiebert (CO), Linda Armstrong (GA), Diane Tomasso (CO), Helen Spielman (NC), Karen Jones (CO), Jill Powers (CO), Gina Pisello (WA), Kathy Bayard (NC), Eric Avery (TX), Michelle Scarlett (ME), Susan Mackin Dolan (CO).
We took the practice to the model new Takefu Station, a couple of miles from the paper village, after which walked by the rice fields to a enterprise resort, the Route Inn Takefu – notice the road signal to the Japanese Paper Village. June is scorching and steamy in Japan, and procuring (largely for paper) was a giant a part of the tour. At this cease, we loved fruit popsicles after arriving on the station.
Day 2: Mill Visits + Paper Shrine
The tour’s inception got here from my earlier journey to Japan once I met Nick Cladis, who teaches papermaking on the College of Iowa Heart for the E book. Nick lived in Echizen for six years and spent a day giving my husband and me a pleasant tour of a number of mills, adopted by a potluck dinner with members of the papermaking group there.
We took taxis into the paper village every day, the place we met up with Nick, who was our information and translator. We spent an hour every at three completely different mills. I may write a full weblog submit about every go to, however to maintain this transient, I’ll share one tidbit from every. At Igarashi Mill, we noticed the three primary vegetation utilized in papermaking (kozo, mitsumata and gampi) and realized a couple of scientist who’s making an attempt to domesticate gampi, which could be very troublesome to do; at Yamaguchi Mill, we met the husband and spouse crew (and their apprentice) who create attractive single and double-layer sheets which might be all board dried; and at Taki Mill, all of us bought to attempt spraying into the pulp on an enormous sheet of paper.
That afternoon we visited the Okamoto Otaki Shrine, the one shrine in Japan to be devoted to Kawakami Gozen, the goddess of paper.
Day 3: Extra Mills + A Paper Distributor
We started our day on the shrine once more (a superb taxi drop-off location) and walked to Yanase Mill, the place we gaped at two younger papermakers working in tandem to create big sheet after sheet. Mrs. Yanase confirmed us how she makes hikkake paper, an uncommon stenciling method. Subsequent, we visited Osada Mill, the place the proprietor shared a number of of his methods with us. Many of those mills create giant sheets for fusuma door panels and different interiors, corresponding to lighting and wallpaper. Our third mill that day was Ryozo, the place they make paper by hand, after which make the most of a conveyor belt system – that they sofa the sheets onto – to press and dry the sheets. Additionally they create two completely different sorts of lace papers, and we had been handled to an indication.
That afternoon we visited paper distributor, Sugihara Shoten, who has an exquisite showroom the place we noticed extra papers from quite a few mills round Echizen, in addition to merchandise created with the papers and particular initiatives which have been facilitated with firms like Fendi.
Day 4: Udatsu Paper & Craft Museum and Paper Outlets
We divided into two teams and break up our time between studying the way to make Japanese paper on the Udatsu Paper & Craft Museum and visiting a number of paper outlets within the village. Every participant bought to attempt their hand at making 2 giant sheets of paper, which undoubtedly takes some getting used to – my sheets had been nothing to write down dwelling about, however I really loved the expertise.
Day 5: Journey to Gifu, then Mino: Lanterns + Umbrellas
I met Andrew Dewar about 3 years in the past, when he joined my Fb group, The Paper Studio. He participates in our “flaunt it Fridays” nearly each week, however extra importantly he’s an knowledgeable paper folder, specializing in paper objects that fly. After I realized that he lived in Gifu, close to Mino, I requested him whether or not he want to information us for a few days. I knew that Isamu Noguchi had been within the space within the 1950’s to assist modernize their collapsible lanterns (if you happen to can’t make it to Japan, you may go to Noguchi’s outdated studio simply outdoors of NYC). Andrew took us to Ozeki & Co., the place Noguchi’s Akari Lights are nonetheless out there, together with the normal Gifu designs. Then we went to Kawara-Machi and visited Gifu Wagasa, a pleasant store that sells paper umbrellas. We had been in a position to step into the workshop and meet a younger craftsman who prepares the bamboo components for the umbrellas.
After touring in Gifu, we had a stunning meal on the river – I feel we counted 10 programs – after which took the general public bus to Mino.
Day 6: Paper + Mild
As luck would have it, a paper colleague who had been in Mino launched me to Akiko Furuta, who lives on the town and is a volunteer tour information. After a quick tour of everybody’s room within the conventional Japanese ryokan (Nipponia Mino Service provider City Resort), full of conventional shoji screens, attractive woodwork, fusuma paper doorways, and gardens, views), Akiko generously handed out brochures and took us to some websites, declaring others for us to return to on our personal later within the day. Mino has a number of paper and lantern outlets, and Hideka Kano gave a full of life miniature chochin (collapsible lantern) demonstration. Mino has an annual paper lantern competitors, and the Mino Washi Akari Artwork Gallery is full of progressive designs. The afternoon was topped off with an origami lesson with Andrew, who taught us the way to make three completely different designs, two which flew.
Day 7: Journey to Kyoto
We re-connected with Masa in Kyoto, who deliberate a three-day itinerary of historic websites within the mornings, leaving our afternoons free to go to paper outlets and artists. Masa is married to Sarah Brayer, an American paper artist who has been in Japan for 40 years and was my connection to Masa (I met Sarah when she got here to make work at Dieu Donné in NYC within the mid-1990’s).
We had time for a couple of actions between our practice journey to Kyoto and checking in on the Celestine Resort Gion (Masa selected glorious inns and deliberate our practice journey). Our first cease was within the higher meals courtroom on the Kyoto practice station, the place Eriko Horiki, a paper artist who has accomplished set up and lighting work throughout Japan, did a current ceiling set up piece. Subsequent we visited Sanjusangen-do, a Buddhist temple with an excellent corridor that homes 1001 life-sized, picket statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy (carved in Japanese cypress lined in gold leaf). Subsequent, we visited Kawai Kanjiro’s home, tucking right into a small doorway that opened up into an exquisite dwelling designed by the ceramic artist within the 1930’s, full with an enormous kiln out again.
Day 8: Kyoto Zen Tour
I feel it could be cool to be a tour information like Masa, who has an opportunity to go to these particular websites throughout completely different seasons. I can solely think about Ryoan-ji within the spring (with flowers) or fall (with colourful leaves). The rock backyard was beautiful and contemplative in summer time too. I realized that the principle rocks in Japanese rock gardens have at the least half of their “physique” buried underground. We headed to Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion subsequent, a Zen temple whose high two flooring are fully lined in gold leaf. Masa is aware of the abbot at Zuiho-in, positioned in an enormous complicated of Daitoku-ji which hosts numerous Zen temples. The abbot served us tea and answered our questions concerning the temple and his life there. After a scrumptious lunch on the temple grounds, a number of of us wandered by the streets of Kyoto to a cloth store, an indigo store, Aizenkobo (the place we bought to see the vats of indigo) and Morita Washi.
Day 9: Day Journey to Nara
We took two vans to Nara, the previous capital of Japan and a Unesco World Heritage metropolis. Our first cease was at Todai-ji, which options the Nice Buddha Corridor housing the world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana. We walked by Nara Park to Kasuga Taisha Shrine. I truly bought misplaced with a few tour members and missed seeing this website (with quite a few stone lanterns, darn!) however this sentiment makes up for it:
“Identical to in historical occasions, companies are provided each morning and night, and nonetheless as we speak, prayers are provided for nationwide and world peace, and for the happiness and wellbeing of all folks”.
After lunch on the Nara Resort – of architectural curiosity and constructed for visiting dignitaries in 1909 (Helen Keller and Albert Einstein amongst them) – we visited Horyuji temple, which homes the world’s oldest surviving picket buildings.
Day 10: Arashiyama Tour
After we had been in Kyoto in 2019, my husband and I rode our bikes from our airbnb to Arashiyama, a surprising bamboo grove. This time, we traveled by practice and walked throughout the river into the stunning neighborhood that’s adjoining to the forest, meandering by a couple of gardens on the way in which, the place we noticed a lotus flowers in full bloom. That afternoon, we visited the Chushin Artwork Museum, the place the artist Kyoko Ibe met us and talked about her work in handmade paper. What a deal with to listen to her communicate concerning the work. A number of of us visited Rakushikan Paper Store afterwards.
Day 11: Printmaking
Many of the group visited Karamaru on our final morning in Kyoto, a conventional printmaking store that I’d stumbled throughout in 2019. They follow the karakami type of woodblock printing, which entails inserting a sheet of paper on high of the block (they’ve a group of 300-year-old woodblocks) and hand rubbing every print. We participated in their printing expertise (we watched a brief video, adopted by an indication, after which every us us bought to print 3 sheets). On the finish of our session, the grasp printer confirmed us how he prints fusuma door panels, which requires 24 passes and plenty of shifting the paper round with excellent registration. A number of of us visited Kamiji Kakimoto afterwards, one other fantastic paper store that was inside strolling distance (the shelf within the picture homes papers made by hand from varied mills in Japan).
Studio Tour + The Grand Finale
That night, we went to Masa and Sarah’s home for a studio tour with Sarah Brayer, who works in paper, creating work in Echizen in addition to in her beautiful standalone studio. The tour was adopted by a dinner that Masa ready together with his assistants.
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The grand finale was actually particular. We had been seated at a desk in entrance of fusuma door panels that had been painted by Sarah, when Masa opened the doorways to unveil a room behind them. A geiko (geisha) was sitting there in entrance of a wall of shoji screens. She carried out three dances for us and answered our questions.
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I’d by no means accomplished something like this (organizing, planning and main a tour), and I actually loved it. I cherished being in Japan, and I’m contemplating placing collectively one other one in 2026. Be at liberty to let me know if you happen to’re enthusiastic about coming alongside. Within the meantime, I bought fairly a little bit of paper (which I unveiled in a number of current posts over on Instagram). I’m conserving some for myself, however I’m making a sampler for these of you who would love a collection of distinctive papers from Japan. I’ll supply these on the market later this week, and also you (my weblog readers) together with my publication subscribers, would be the first to listen to about it. Thanks for for following my paper journey!
