Journey to the Roots of Paper (Summer 2025)
Kurotani Washi Paper Company, Ayabe, Kyoto
Supported by the Yale Council on East Asian Studies
Photo credit: Kakimoto Shoji Co., Ltd
In the summer of 2025, I experienced paper as a breathing, living material that holds time, touch, and environment.
At Kurotani village in Ayabe, the oldest papermaking community in northern Kyoto, I experienced the full cycle of handmade paper making: harvesting kozo, steaming and stripping bark, boiling and beating fibers, suspending them in water until they drifted like breath, and then carefully gathering them into sheets to dry in the sunlight.
Harvesting kozo from the Kozo Field
Steaming the bark, separating the bark layers using knives to scrape away the outer black bark
Inner white bark (Shirokawa) is sun-dried
Dried bark is soaked in cold water , and its impurities removed by hand
(dark fibers, debris, insects)
(dark fibers, debris, insects)
Each step is done with
care, patience, and presence.
In this cycle, I recognized our own—we, too, must break, bend, and rebuild to become stronger.
Boiled in an alkaline solution to soften fibers without breaking them, rinsed repeatedly,
beatened by hand with wooden mallets to soften and separate the fibers
beatened by hand with wooden mallets to soften and separate the fibers
Photo credit: Kakimoto Shoji Co., Ltd
Fibers are mixed with water and Neri (beaten tororo-aoi root that suspends fibers and slows drainage) in a vat for even sheet formation
Sheets are formed using a suketa (bamboo screen and frame) with a steady rocking motion.
Fibers are settled, aligned, and interwoven, allowing a sheet to emerge through repetition and flow.
The stack of fresh sheets are pressed slowly to remove excess water.
Fibers are settled, aligned, and interwoven, allowing a sheet to emerge through repetition and flow.
The stack of fresh sheets are pressed slowly to remove excess water.
Drying responds to weather: sheets are laid in the sun on wooden boards or brushed onto warmed metal surfaces
Tonal shifts record uneven exposure during drying—
areas touched by sunlight lighten, while shaded sections retain a deeper tone
areas touched by sunlight lighten, while shaded sections retain a deeper tone
Bringing these experiences into my studio,
I am exploring paper forms that evolve with their surroundings, absorbing rather than resisting change.