The Kid Should See This

The Japanese handmade paper of Kyoto Kurotani

Watch more with these video collections:

Observing the craftsmanship in 18 workshops around Kyoto, Japan, filmmaker Kuroyanagi Takashi recorded how Japanese washiGanpishi, Kozogami, Mitsumatagami — is made, an 800 year old art. Watch the making of Japanese handmade paper of Kyoto Kurotani.

Learn some details from JapanesePaperPlace.com:

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.

making paper from plants
finished paper
Watch more of how things are made in Japan:
β€’Β The art of suminagashi or Japanese paper marbling
β€’Β Making Japanese rice cakes at Nakatani-dou
β€’Β Amezaiku (飴細ε·₯) Japanese Candy Sculptures
β€’Β Making a traditional Japanese wooden Kokeshi Doll
β€’Β Kintsugi & kintsukuroi – The art of pottery mending with gold
β€’Β The Swordmaker

🌈 Watch these videos next...

Yuasa Town: The Birthplace of Soy Sauce

Rion Nakaya

Whale Fall (After Life of a Whale)

Rion Nakaya

Water powered hammer (Monjolo) – Primitive Technology

Rion Nakaya

Vitamin String Quartet’s Venus As A Boy, a paper animation

Rion Nakaya

The Pysanky-Making Experience

Rion Nakaya

The Putter and the art of putting together scissors

Rion Nakaya

The evolution of the book

Rion Nakaya

The art of suminagashi or Japanese paper marbling

Rion Nakaya

The art of shokuhin sampuru: How Japanese fake food models are made

Rion Nakaya

Get smart curated videos delivered to your inbox.