What Is Washi Paper?
What Is Washi Paper?
Long prized for its strength, textures, and functionality, Washi paper is a traditional piece of Japanese cultural heritage which has been produced for over 1,400 years. Here at Edofiber, we are proud of our work updating this time-honored art form for modern printing needs.
Washi: A Traditional Japanese Art
Washi is traditionally made from kozo and mitsumata and the wild gampi, woody plants that gave this form of paper some very unique advantages. Compared with modern mass-produced papers, Washi has always been tougher, stronger, more absorbent, flexible, and much longer-lived.
Traditionally, Washi was manufactured by means of a 22-step process, which included steaming the woody branches of the kozo, mitsumata, and gampi to facilitate stripping the bark. The fibers from the bark became the basis for Washi paper.
Each of the three woody plants used in making Washi is associated with its own particular style of Washi. By far the most common type is Kozo Washi, made from a type of mulberry. This type of Washi is famous for its strength, durability, and wonderful textures and ability to absorb ink. It is in many ways the most archetypal Washi, the one that embodies everything that Washi is.
Mitsumata Washi, on the other hand, is a delicate and elastic type of Washi. Known for its softness and flexibility, this type of Washi has a glossy appearance and is perfect for calligraphy and for printing paper.
Finally, Gampi Washi is particularly good at taking colors from dyes and infusions. This makes it the best choice for envelopes, stationery, postcards, business cards, and colored papers.
Manufacturing Washi Paper
Washi was made by hand in numerous Japanese villages for many centuries. This time-honored process included 22 different steps, by means of which the fibers were cleaned, beaten until soft, mixed with a starchy ingredient called tororo aoi, and eventually separated, brushed, and dried.
The result was a beautiful, luxurious Washi paper that was the pride of scribes, scholars, poets, and monks over the course of many centuries in Japan.
Although traditional Washi is beautiful as well as highly functional, the process of making it is far too laborious to ever be practical on a large scale. Recognizing this, Edofiber and its parent company, Nagai Paper Store, developed an innovative means of producing machine-made Washi paper.
Nagai pioneered a way of processing Washi paper that drew on the best aspects of the traditional process and harmonized them with modern mass-production technology.
The result is a beautiful and functional Washi paper, one which features unique textures that can only be found in Washi paper. Edofiber’s Washi products range from thick and durable to delicate and thin.
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Uses for Washi Paper
These many different textures have been created to facilitate an equally broad range of uses for Washi. It is ideal for everything from craft supplies to printing and packaging solutions.
Washi craft supplies include envelopes, file folders, scrapbook design paper, and many more. Washi envelopes can be designed custom for weddings and other events.
The perfect paper for scrapbooking and craft work, Washi comes in many different colors. It is ideal both because of its ability to hold color and because it is strong and not prone to ripping or tearing.
Washi is also ideal for artisan work, such as calligraphy. With its luxurious textures and superior absorbency, Washi makes for crisp, clear, beautiful calligraphy.
These same advantages also lend it well to printing, including digital printing and digital presses. There are a variety of printing uses to which Washi can be put, and it is better than conventional paper in this regard because it is better able to produce crisp, clear text and images as well as being more durable.
Edofiber has a variety of printing solutions which include letterpress printing, high-definition offset printing, and seal printing, as well as laminating Washi. Whatever your printing needs, Washi can deliver in a way that conventional office papers simply cannot meet.
Washi also has other practical uses outside of the office. It is remarkably effective as clothing protection: lightweight and yet strong and flexible, it is the ideal material to use for clothing protectors to keep out moths and other pests that pose threats to clothing when in storage.
Washi repels moths and other pests, keeping clothing in storage safe for long periods of time – and without any chemicals, like those used in mothballs.
Washi is also ideal for office solutions, again particularly because of its textures and ability to fix colors. Whether you are seeking to wrap a package or put it in a Washi box, the presentation will be highly aesthetic and impressive.
Washi’s durability and flexibility also make it perfect for file folders, envelopes, stationery, and other office supplies. It is strong enough to make for good, tough file folders and envelopes, and these attributes and its flexibility and ability to absorb color make it ideal as stationery.
Washi’s combination of features mean that it is a particularly good idea if you are looking for custom office supplies, i.e. with a company watermark or symbol. Use Washi for your office supplies, and you will be impressed by the remarkable combination of function and aesthetics.
Finally, many restaurant products, including placemats, chopstick covers, and more, are also highly applicable to Washi. Edofiber produces Washi products for these and many other needs: because Washi is both strong and flexible, it is optimal for these and many other needs.
Edofiber is your Source for Washi Paper
Washi paper is a traditional Japanese art form which remains highly relevant to modern printing needs. Whether you are interested in scrapbooking or restaurant products or office supplies, Edofiber has a Washi solution that can help you solve your problem.
Best of all, Washi combines the highly aesthetic with the highly practical: particularly compared with mass-produced office paper, it is both very beautiful and very functional – arguably far more so than any other paper.
From stationery to envelopes to placemats to gift boxes, Washi’s particular combination of durability, flexibility, absorbency, and luxurious textures make it the perfect solution for a wide variety of paper-based needs.
Employee Spotlight Fumie Watanabe
Employee Spotlight: Fumie Watanabe
Meet Fumie Watanabe, our longest-term employee who has been with Edofiber and Nagai Paper Company for over 50 years. When Denzaemon Nagai, the founder of Nagai Paper Company left Ehime for Tokyo to open a little paper store, Fumie’s siblings came to Tokyo with Denzaemon. A few years later, Fumie joined Nagai to work together with his siblings at the store in Tokyo. For the first three years, Fumie worked at the warehouse where he learned all the Washi paper products and remembered all the names, sizes, prices of those products. Eventually, Fumie oversaw the sales team. At that time in 1980, the Nagai factory did not have a machine to process Foil Stamping on Washi paper. Since Fumie strongly felt its need, he gained the skills of processing Foil Stamping from one of his clients and brought the technique to the Nagai factory. The Foil Stamping department that Fumie established is still one of our main departments even after 40 years.
Fumie shares that there were many challenges in processing and distributing Washi paper at Nagai Paper Company. For example, gold leaf is made of metal, not ink. One day, Fumie recalls that the surface processed with gold leaf was rusted due to oxidization when processing the gold leaf onto dark-colored papers. This was unacceptable, and the work had to be redone; however, the client’s delivery date was fast approaching. Fumie and his team solved the problem by working straight through for two days without sleep. The work was accomplished and without oxidization to the client’s satisfaction. It was a great example of the commitment that Nagai Paper Company has for delivering quality Washi paper for its clients.
Fumie is very thankful for his good health and for working for Nagai during his career. Even now, he works on the front lines while receiving a generous. In honor of his service, Nagai presented Fumie with a framed portrait that has become a family heirloom.
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The Washi paper market is changing every day and Fumie enjoys the challenge as it provides opportunities to continue to improve his skills. He enjoys coaching and mentoring the junior tradesmen at Nagai. His advice: “It is important to accumulate every day’s work at the factory. Devote yourself to the work every day.” At Nagai, we want everyone to share information to create better Washi paper products. The future for Washi paper continues to grow.
Compared to Western paper, Japanese Washi paper changes like a living animal depending on how it is stored. When the weather changes, Fumie says that Nagai Paper Company carries over the work to the next day. When printing, the expansion, shrinkage or curling can affect Washi paper. Working with the paper is a challenge but Fumie has acquired the skills to deliver quality. Because Washi paper is delicate, employees at Nagai Paper Company work with care and devotion to solve these challenges. These elements distinguish Washi paper from all other papers.
Fumie never imagined that Nagai’s Washi paper would be sold overseas. Washi makes an elegant tapestry decoration on a wall to enjoy the beauty of Washi paper, but there are many other excellent features of Washi paper: it may serve as an insect repellent for packaging, or absorb moisture for preservative effects. Recently, Fumie says that Nagai has received a packaging project from a cosmetics manufacturer in the United States. Without Washi and its very flexible and adaptive qualities, it would not be possible for any company to do what Nagai has done for this project. The packaging was made by very thin Washi paper that had rayon fiber inside. Through the expertise of our processes, Nagai Paper Company was able to use its thin paper printing techniques to print a customized design with the company logo and finalized the packaging with a unique folding process. Fumie is proud of the fine capabilities that he and his fellow employees have developed in working with Washi paper for the benefit of their clients.
Washi Paper Production: 100 Years of Expertise
Washi Paper Production: 100 Years of Expertise
Edofiber is a peerless source of Washi paper, a beautiful traditional Japanese paper which can be used for a wide variety of modern applications.
No other company has access to Washi of such high quality as Edofiber, Washi which is optimal for modern digital printing and a host of other applications, not to mention innovative custom solutions.
At the same time, Edofiber can supply the needs of the modern mass market, and we are constantly looking for new partners to help us bring Washi paper products to consumer markets in the Western world.
Edofiber’s Select Washi Suppliers
Today there are three Washi manufacturers remaining on Japan’s Shikoku Island, and Edofiber has close relationships with all three.
Between them, these manufacturers produce some of the finest Washi paper in existence. The Washi paper Edofiber sources won the coveted Yokozuna Award for best-quality Tesuki Hosyo.
Edofiber’s close relationships with these suppliers have profound consequences for our ability to produce innovative solutions. Because we are so close to our suppliers, we can work closely with them to provide custom solutions, even in small-run quantities.
Working with providers of top-quality Yoshino Sugi (cedar), we invented Washi paper file folders that used Yoshino Sugi cedar chips. Yoshino, in Nara Prefecture, has been renowned as a source of top-quality cedar since the 12th century.
The success of this product has helped to promote the use of the Yoshino Cedar in common consumer products.
And working with Sugino Washi Paper Factory in Saijo, Ehime, we created a package insert leaflet for an international cosmetic brand, promoting the beauty of Washi paper among many different countries outside of Japan.
Production of Washi Paper
There are 22 steps in the traditional process of producing Washi paper. The first step is to cultivate the raw materials kozo and mitsumata, both woody shrubs, and to gather the third raw material, the wild-growing gampi.
The materials are typically harvested from December to January, following which they are steamed to facilitate the stripping of the bark. The bark is scraped, washed, boiled with alkali, steamed again, beaten to loosen the fibers, and then made into sheets of Washi.
Other steps including entwining the fibers to make layers, pressing out excess water, brushing, drying, and selection. The result is a paper unlike any other: beautiful, with luxurious textures, and superb absorptive abilities for high-quality printing jobs.
Types of Washi Paper
The three main fibers used in Washi paper are kozo, mitsumata, and gampi, and each is associated with its own style of Washi paper. The fibers are similar enough in terms of their general properties, but each still has sufficient differences to be distinct in its own right.
Kozo Washi is the majority of Washi paper today. It is strong, durable, and has the luxurious textures and absorbent qualities that embody everything that makes Washi interesting and unique. Notably, it retains strength even when folded or crumpled.
Mitsumata Washi is much more delicate and elastic than Kozo Washi. It has a glossy look, and is soft and flexible to the touch. It is excellent for calligraphy and for printing paper, particularly modern digital printing.
Gampi paper is notable for its ability to take dyes and infused color. It is particularly optimal for envelopes, stationery, postcards, business cards, and colored papers.
All three types of Washi have much to recommend them, particularly with regard to their absorptive qualities.
Because printing requires paper to absorb the ink in order to display text and images, Washi’s superb absorptive abilities make for especially vibrant, beautiful colors when it is used to print images, and crisp, well-defined text.
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Processing Washi Paper
Edofiber has mastered the art of processing Washi paper in a variety of ways, for numerous applications.
For example, Edofiber’s Washi paper is ideal for watermarking. A watermark is a pattern that stands out when held against the light. Watermarks are produced by subtle techniques, which selectively thin the paper to form a distinctive pattern, such as those seen on diplomas and certificates.
Edge dying is another Edofiber specialty. Using our Fuchizome technique, we dye the rim of the paper in a way that produces a unique texture, utterly unlike anything possible with printing.
Foil stamping is another process for which our Washi is ideal. This is a way of printing foil by thermal transfer. This process can make use of gold and silver, and there are also monochrome and hologram options.
Washi can also be turned into elegant and beautiful boxes, perfect for gifting. We can also use punching die to produce original and custom shapes.
Another option is embossment, which produces a pattern on paper without any ink at all.
Printing on Washi Paper
Edofiber’s printing solutions are varied and address a wide variety of needs. Whatever your need, we can print Washi paper that will supply it.
Letterpress printing is a method we have expertise in. It produces high-quality printing that is reminiscent of prints produced with woodcut plates.
Washi is also perfect for very high-definition offset printing. We can also do thin paper printing, which is technically complex and very tricky. Edofiber has decades of experience in thin-paper printing.
We can also do seal printing, either on rolled paper with the seals cut out, or special paper that has been treated with adhesive.
Finally, we can laminate Washi, thermal-welding a material such as polyethylene over the Washi to make it more water-resistant.
Edofiber’s Washi Production & Distribution
We specialize in the production of Washi paper for commercial printing and production, but we also produce and distribute a wide variety of custom Washi products for a wide variety of needs.
Our products include Washi office supplies, postcards, and restaurant food and packaging supplies. Whether you are in need of innovative paper solutions for the office or for creative processes, we can meet your Washi paper needs.
It is our mission to promote Washi paper for daily use in the West, since Washi has so many unique strengths compared with mass market Western paper: resistant to humidity, long-lasting, takes colors and text better, less prone to pest damage, and generally more luxuriant and interesting to the touch.
To learn more about our Washi paper solutions, contact Edofiber for samples and business terms.
Washi Paper Distributor: Edofiber
Washi Paper Distributor: Edofiber
Edofiber is a top-rated distributor of Washi papers, a traditional Japanese style of paper that also excels in modern printing applications.
Because of the raw materials used to make Washi paper and the process by which it is manufactured, the finished product is much stronger than conventional paper, as well as being more absorbent and thus able to produce a more beautiful printed result.
Washi is the paper of choice for any printing job that would benefit from more vivid, attractive colors, not to mention crisper images and texts.
With its long-standing connections to the best Washi manufacturers as well as its own status as an award-winning manufacturer, Edofiber is uniquely well-positioned to supply partners in the Western world with this remarkable Japanese paper.
History of Washi Manufacturing
Traditionally known as Tesuki Washi, handmade Japanese paper, Washi is made from the cultivated woody plants kozo and mitsumata and the wild gampi. Because of these materials, Washi paper is tougher, more absorbent, and longer-lasting than ordinary wood-pulp-based paper.
By the time of the Edo period (1603-1867), one form of Washi was popular among Osaka merchants, who used it for their account books. Washi paper account books had a remarkable advantage: whenever a fire broke out, the merchants could throw their books into a well to protect them, since the Washi paper was highly resistant to water damage.
Hand-made Washi is too labor-intensive to be economical, so a number of manufacturers took up the task of creating a modern, mechanized production. Among them was Edofiber’s parent company, Nagai Paper Store.
Nagai Paper Store and the other early pioneers started manufacturing in the city of Kuniyas, now called Saijo City, in the Ehime Prefecture on the Japanese island of Shikoku.
The city is situated in a flat valley located between two mountains, Mount Ishizuchi and Mount Takanawa. This location proved ideal for efficiently obtaining labor, raw materials, and then drying and finally shipping out the finished Washi.
Denzaemon Nagai is the founder of our parent company, Nagai Paper Corporation, and was born in 1899 in Kuniyasu, Ehime. He bacame a Tesuki Washi craftsman in 1916 and went on a sales trip to sell Tesuki Washi paper crafted on his own across the western parts of Japan. This became the foundation of the Nagai corporation’s current business and is part of our century-long heritage.
Award-Winning Manufacturer & Distributor
Washi manufacturing flourished here, peaking in 1951 with 50 different Washi manufacturers. Over time, consolidation and going out of business reduced the number of these manufacturers to three, and Edofiber has connections with all of them.
Edofiber has longstanding relationships with these three remaining Washi manufacturers, thanks to our parent company Nagai. Sugino Washi Paper Factory is one of the three remaining Washi factories. The followings are the process of Tesuki Washi paper making at Sugino Washi Paper factory.
Putting all the materials in water to loosen them and form it into a sheet. While gently rocking back and fourth by hand, making the sheet flat even and transparent . This activity is called “Tesuki.”
After “Tesuking,” they compile a hundred of the single Tesuki sheets and put weight on the pile to compress them. After that, craftsmen peel off each sheet from the other to separate them and dry them naturally in the open air.
In 1955, Edofiber and our parent company were responsible for innovating a modern, mechanized process of Washi production which embodied all of the quality and beauty of traditional hand-made Tesuki Washi while being economical for the international mass market.
It is this fusion of the high quality of the traditional Tesuki hand-crafted Washi paper and the efficiency of modern mechanization.
Edofiber first produced and sold Washi paper chopstick covers for the mass market in 1959. Numerous other products followed: paper for printing, stationery, office supplies, packaging materials, and more.
Today Edofiber is ranked as one of the finest Tesuki Washi manufacturers, having won the coveted Yokozuna Award as the best quality Tesuki Hosyo.
Drawing on our century of expertise, we produce high-quality, beautiful Washi paper that is versatile, stronger than conventional paper, and also able to produce more attractive results than typical, ordinary paper. We are proud of our Washi and the many uses to which it can be put.
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Washi: A Versatile Paper
Thanks to the materials used to make Washi and the processes of manufacturing, the finished product is not only stronger but also more beautiful, and with much more desirable textures. This lends it to a variety of uses.
Washi has long been used for artworks and for interior decoration. Today Edofiber and our suppliers produce Washi paper which is optimal for use in letterpress printing, high-definition offset printing, seal printing, digital printing and laminated paper.
Common Washi products include packaging materials, such as boxes, tissue paper, wrapping paper, office supplies, letter and envelope stationery, tissue paper, and wrapping paper.
Digital printing is one of the most promising applications of our Washi paper. The resulting print jobs show high-resolution, high-clarity printed texts and images.
Washi texture is softer and more luxurious than most people are used to experiencing with paper. The surface of a sheet of Washi paper is much more tactilely interesting than a regular sheet of paper, as well as being more attractive and more durable.
The greater absorbency of Washi paper is a key part of what makes it so interesting and effective. After all, paper of any kind has to absorb ink if it is to display printed text and/or images.
Because Washi is more absorbent, it is better at taking in the ink, and that means more vibrant colors and clearer text.
Washi Paper Distribution Opportunities
Edofiber now distributes Washi paper worldwide and is actively seeking to expand its business partnerships in the Western world.
Our digital printing Washi paper is of the highest quality, and performs with excellence on printers, copiers, and commercial digital printing presses. Whatever your printing needs, we can serve as your source for traditional Japanese Washi paper.
We also offer distinct Washi specialty papers for packaging, perfect for wrapping gifts or other packages, as well as stationery and craft supplies. Our custom solutions can cover any special need.
All of our Washi products combine beauty and elegance with unrivaled performance. Every Washi product we sell combines the traditional Washi strength and durability with interesting, luxurious textures and outstanding printing possibilities.
Our expertise is grounded in a century of history manufacturing Washi, and over half a century of modern mechanized production that retains harmony and continuity with the traditional Washi craft.
We have the ability to mass-produce numerous Washi products for the world market, including the United States and the United Kingdom, and we are constantly looking for new partners.
Whatever your printing needs, we are ready, willing, and able to consult with you in order to find a Washi paper solution. You deserve the best in Washi paper solutions, from paper for digital printing to custom badges, file folders, portfolios, table mats, napkins, cups, and many more.
To explore the advantages of Washi paper in products ranging from office supplies to commercial printing, contact Edofiber for samples and business terms.
Washi Paper Supplier: Partner with the Best
Washi Paper Supplier: Partner With the Best
Washi paper is a traditional Japanese paper, one which we have modernized for mass production while retaining the incredible qualities that have earned this paper its legendary status.
Washi is famous for its artistic and literary uses in Japan, and now it is accessible to modern business and office use.
What is Washi?
Washi is a traditional Japanese paper, long made from the inner fibers of three plants, including a type of mulberry.
Produced in Japan since its introduction from China at the hands of Buddhist monks around 610 CE, Washi was long prized for its luxurious textures, marvelous color absorbency, and incredible durability and longevity.
Because the Washi production process was more like textile production and used some textile-like materials, the resulting paper was of surpassing quality, and is still highly prized for many traditional uses today.
Creating Modern Washi
This combination of traditional beauty, durability, and luxurious textures is what we wanted to capture with our Washi. The challenge lay in finding a way to make Washi in a more efficient and modern manner.
Our parent company, Nagai Shigyo Co., Ltd., innovated a production process that captured the best aspects of the traditional process of manufacturing Washi, producing a traditional Japanese paper in a modern manner.
The resulting paper is just as durable, beautiful, and absorbent as the original handmade version. The only thing that is different is the efficient mechanized process of production, which allows us to fulfill large orders for Washi worldwide.
We are proud of our role as Japan’s largest Washi supplier, and now we are looking for partners in the United Kingdom and the United States.
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Using Our Washi
What sets our Washi apart from other paper? The answer is the combination of luxurious textures, durability, and absorbency.
The luxurious textures of our Washi contribute to particularly high-quality, crisp images. They also make possible the absorbency, which means the Washi takes the ink a great deal better than conventional paper, in a more canvas-like fashion.
As a result, if you print on Washi, the completed print job will be of notably good quality. Washi printed materials are of particularly high quality, with deep, vibrant colors. The definition and clarity of the images or text printed on Washi is far superior to that of conventional paper.
Additionally, Washi is much stronger and longer-lasting than conventional paper: the fibers used to manufacture it are much tougher, making for a much more durable finished result.
If you have a need for printed materials that are of the highest quality and you want them to be long-lasting, you cannot do better than the Washi paper we supply.
Seeking Business Partners Worldwide
If you are in need of a material for printing the highest-quality printed materials, our Washi paper can serve your needs far more effectively than conventional paper. As Washi paper suppliers, we have the advantage of long experience producing excellent Washi designed for a range of modern printing needs.
When you require the greatest quality in your paper, there is no substitute for partnering with the best.
Washi Digital Paper: Traditional Meets Modern
Washi Digital Paper: Traditional Meets Modern
Washi digital paper is a cutting-edge, modern version of Japan’s famous traditional paper.
Long prized for its strength and absorbency, modern Washi paper is ideal for digital printing. Compared with regular paper, its greater absorbency and luxurious textures mean better printing jobs, with more vivid, beautiful colors and crisper images and text.
In designing this paper, we at Edofiber have taken great pains to reproduce the best aspects of traditional handmade Washi in a modern paper that is economical for mass production, while working to make our production process and the final product environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Traditional Washi
Washi paper was made by hand in Japanese villages for many hundreds of years, having been introduced from China around 610 CE by Buddhist monks.
Historically, the traditional process incorporated textile-like aspects, lending Washi a strength and beauty that would be unimaginable in any other paper. This traditional Washi continues to be prized for many artistic purposes.
This traditional Washi production continues in a number of Japanese villages today, but it is far too labor-intensive to ever be practical for mass production. For us to bring Washi to the office and modern digital printing, we had to find a better way.
Bringing Tradition into Modern Times
Together with our parent company Nagai Shigyo Co., Ltd., we have been manufacturing machine-made Washi since 1955.
Our process required a harmonious fusion of traditional quality and modern efficiency: we took the traditional Tesuki process of making Washi by hand and found a way to mechanize it without detracting from the incredible qualities of this traditional paper.
The result is beautiful Washi paper with luxurious textures and excellent absorbency, available for large-volume orders all around the world.
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Modern Washi Paper for Modern Printing Needs
What do you look for in paper? Whether you are looking to print out brochures, menus, programs, memos, or anything else, you need a paper that is versatile, strong, and able to handle a variety of different printing jobs to a high standard of quality.
Our Washi paper is perfect for fulfilling your modern printing needs. It combines durability, beauty, strength, and highly desirable textures.
One of the things that is most notable about Washi is how long it will last: highly durable, sheets of Washi endure far longer and preserve the quality of the print job far longer than conventional paper.
Washi holds colors far better than conventional paper, making for bright, crisp printing jobs. Use it for all of your digital printing needs: it is more than adequate for any printing job.
Finding a Japanese Washi Paper Supplier
Here at Edofiber, we are proud of our historic place as one of the largest distributors of Washi paper in the whole of Japan. We are on the lookout for business partners in both the United Kingdom and the United States, companies who are interested in buying and distributing our Washi digital paper.
Our product beautifully blends the traditional quality and aesthetic appeal of the age-old handcrafted Washi with mechanized efficiency, making a paper that is at once traditional and modern.