Japan’s washi paper torn by modern life

But, at a small workshop in western Japan, Hiroyoshi Chinzei, a fourth-generation traditional paper maker, creates washi with a unique purpose that may help revive interest — both at home and abroad. Because washi is hard to break, damaged, old documents can be reinforced by attaching a piece of washi or sandwiching them between two sheets of the paper, Chinzei explains. Chinzei’s washi, a type called tengu-jōshi paper, also known as “the wings of a mayfly,” is 0.02 millimeters thick and weighs 1.6 grams per square meter.

Source: www.japantimes.co.jp