Description

History

Papermaking in the Iwami region has a long history.

Records associated with the Engishiki indicate that paper was already being produced in Iwami by around the beginning of the tenth century.

A later tradition recorded in the Edo-period papermaking manual Kamisuki Chohoki states that the poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro taught papermaking to the people of Iwami during the Nara period. This story is best understood as a traditional account of the origins of Sekishu papermaking rather than as firmly documented historical fact.

During the Edo period, both the Hamada and Tsuwano domains encouraged papermaking and established systems to control and promote paper production. As a result, the hanshi paper produced in the Iwami region became widely known as Sekishu Banshi.

Its strength and durability made Sekishu Banshi especially suitable for merchants’ account books in Osaka. A well-known story tells of merchants throwing their ledgers into wells during fires to protect them from the flames and later retrieving them for continued use, an anecdote that came to symbolize the remarkable toughness of the paper.

During the Kansei era, Iwami papermaker Kunitou Jihei compiled Kamisuki Chohoki, an important manual describing papermaking techniques from raw-material preparation through sheet forming.

Papermaking remained an important local industry through the Meiji period, although the number of traditional hand papermakers later declined with the growth of machine-made paper and changes in daily life.

On April 15, 1969, the techniques of Sekishu Banshi were designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Property, with the Sekishu Banshi Craftsmen's Association recognized as the holder group.

On April 11, 1989, Sekishu Washi was designated as a Traditional Craft by the Japanese government.

Sekishu Banshi was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List in 2009 and, in 2014, was incorporated into the broader inscription Washi, craftsmanship of traditional Japanese hand-made paper.

Today, artisans in Hamada and Gotsu continue to produce Sekishu Washi using traditional hand-papermaking techniques and natural fibers such as kozo, mitsumata, and gampi.

Production Process

1. 1. Steaming the raw materials The plant materials used for Sekishu Washi are locally grown kozo, mitsumata, and wild gampi. The wood is cut at a diagonal angle and in approximately meter long segments by a sickle. Once the wood has been aligned and cut, it is steamed in a bamboo steamer, which makes the peeling of the core material and outside skin easier to do. The branch is held in one hand and the bark in the other, and then both are wedged between the feet so that the bark can be stripped from the branches in such a way that the stripped barks make a cylindrical shape. The black bark is tied in bundles and dried naturally with outside air. After it has been dried partially, it is stored.
2. 2. Shaving black bark After the black bark has been soaked in water for about half a day and softened, the skin is carefully shaved on a sozoridai or shaving board with a knife. The part between the outer skin and white inner layer is left intact in order to bring out the toughness of the kozo.
3. 3. Boiling The white inner layer of the bark is stripped off in spring water and carefully shaken to wash away impurities. A mixture of water and soda ash, with the soda ash amounting to 12% of the total water, is heated to boiling in a large vat. The raw material is loosened as it is being added. For about two hours it is boiled and steamed while turning it over approximately every thirty minutes so as to prevent uneven places from developing. When the boiling is finished, the next stage is to wash the material carefully in spring water to remove dust and other impurities. For kozo, during the process of removing harshness, dust is removed from each individual strip.
4. 4. Beating The raw material is placed on a hard wooden board and its fibers are crushed by beating it with rods made of oak. For Sekishu Washi, the beating goes from side to side, left to right and back again, six times, while the material is reversed, top and bottom, six times.
5. 5. Stirring materials A viscous liquid consisting of water, paper raw material, and aibika (which works to bind the fibers together) is put into a vat and stirred with a stick to break it up and make it uniform. Making Sekishu Washi is done in three basic stages: kazushi, choshi, and sutemizu. The rapid lifting out of the paper material from the vat and the use of an entire screen of split bamboo to form the surface of the paper is called kazushi.
6. 6. Shaking materials Choshi involves scooping out a deep layer of the paper material and shaking it from front to back to make the fibers intertwine, thus creating a layer of Japanese paper.
7. 7. Throwing out material The thickness of the paper is determined by the number of times that choshi is performed. Sutemizu is when the paper reaches the right thickness, any superfluous water or paper material is vigorously shaken and thrown out.
8. 8. Transferring paper beds After straining, the water on top of the paper on the paper bed is drained well. The paper is stacked sheet by sheet, moved, and then left overnight. The pressure of a compressor is gradually increased to squeeze the water out of the paper bed.
9. 9. Drying The peeled off sheets of paper are compressed, squeezed, and then brushed onto drying boards made of gingko wood. The drying boards with the wet paper stuck to them are dried in the sun. This step results in beautiful resilient and pliant Sekishu traditional paper.
10. 10. Sorting After drying, the washi is sorted and any sheets with unevenness, thickness, or dust, are gently removed. Sheets of washi that have made it through this selection process are cut to suit their intended uses, and that is the finished product.

Facility Information

Shimane Bussan Kankokan

Other Traditional Japanese paper

• Mino Traditional Japanese Paper
• Echizen Traditional Japanese Paper
• Tosa Traditional Japanese Paper
• Sekishu Traditional Japanese Paper
• Inshu Traditional Japanese Paper
• Awa Traditional Japanese Paper
• Ozu Traditional Japanese Paper
• Etchu Traditional Japanese Paper
• Uchiyama Japanese Paper

Other Crafts Made in Shimane

• Sekishu Traditional Japanese Paper
• Unshu Abacus
• Iwami Ware
• Izumo Stone Lanterns