Washi (和紙) is traditional Japanese paper. The term is used to describe paper that uses local fiber, processed by hand and made in the traditional manner. Washi is made using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (Edgeworthia chrysantha), or the paper mulberry (kōzo) bush.
Washi is produced in a way similar to that of ordinary paper, but relies heavily on manual methods. It involves a long and intricate process that is often undertaken in the cold weather of winter, as pure, cold running water is essential to the production of washi.
By the 7th century, paper had been introduced to Japan from China via the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese developed washi by improving the method of making paper in the Heian period. The improved washi came to be used to decorate religious ceremonies and shide at Shinto shrines, and in the Heian period, washi covered with gold and silver leaf beautifully decorated books such as Kokin Wakashu.
In the Muromachi period, washi came to be used as ceremonial origami for samurai class at weddings and when giving gifts, and from the Sengoku period to the Edo period, recreational origami such as orizuru developed.
During the Edo period, many books and ukiyo-e prints for the masses made of washi were published using woodblock printing.
Washi paper is sparsely mentioned in the books, usually when comparing soft womanly skin with the gentle sheets of washi paper; important scrolls are also written on such paper.
The goddess’s hands, white as washi paper, trembled and dropped the scroll, which whirled in the air and sank with a rustle onto a bench.
He carefully folded the thin washi paper and packed it into a travel cylinder, a lot of which were now lying all over the floor.