Paper has been an intimate part of Japanese culture for more than a millennium. Handmade washi paper has a warm texture, as well as a resilience and durability that belie its remarkable thinness.

ECHIZEN, Fukui Prefecture--A “grand experiment” has kicked off here to preserve manga paintings for 1,000 years using special “washi” paper from the town. The aim is to determine for how long the ...

HIDAKA, Kochi Prefecture--A small manufacturer of Japanese paper here has won a global following by producing what is reputed to be the world’s thinnest traditional washi paper. With a thickness of ...

Japanese washi paper is renowned for its aesthetic beauty and its wide-array of usages. Now, a group of researchers have made a green composite material from washi which boasts a 60% increase in ...

Small-scale workshops making washi by hand could once be found all over Japan. But the arrival of modern machinery as the country opened to the West in the late nineteenth century led to a rapid ...

Many of us take what were once luxuries for granted – clean water from our taps, a warm bed or a hot meal, for example. So it may not cross our minds what a luxury commodity paper was only a few ...

For over 1,000 years, Japan has produced some of the world’s finest paper, using strong natural fibers and exceptional production techniques passed down through the generations. Japanese handmade ...

Made in Japan since the 8th century, traditional washi paper has been used throughout the ages to make everything from furniture to fashion, to Buddhist scriptures and balloon bombs. Mino, a city ...

Once an indispensable part of daily life in Japan, ultra-thin washi paper was used for everything from writing and painting to lampshades, umbrellas, and sliding doors, but demand has plunged as ...

Washi: the traditional Japanese paper, known for its beauty and strength, has been used in bookbinding, art, furniture, and architecture for hundreds of years. But more recently, washi's usage is on ...