 The WASHI
of MITOYA
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I visited the town of Mitoya again two weeks ago in search of a paper
maker named Idani. It was said that he made very fine paper for KATAZOME,
about which I have written. It was really quite difficult to find his
house since that area is very old-fashioned. Finally, we were successful.
Mr. Iwao Idani is the fifth Idani to make WASHI and his son, Shinji, is
the sixth one to continue the job. This custom gives me a feeling of something
being permanent.
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I admire those wonderful people who keep the family art alive. They
are great!! We were welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Idani, given tea and sew
Many examples of KATAZOME made by real masters of the art. It was worth
the trip just to see the pictures. Meeting Mr. and Mrs. Idani was also
a very nice experience. They are good and sincere people.
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I explained the reason I was there, which was to get good paper, and
he was so helpful that my admiration for him became much greater than
before. He personally selected paper for me from a stack that I was afraid
to touch because it was so high. He moved the entire stack in order to
find the best paper for me.
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I used eight sheets of it within two days and none of the sheets tore
or broke up in the water when I was washing them. It's very strong. It
is so easy to use his WASHI that I am going to be a steady customer of
his from now on. The colors are natural and wonderful to see. He uses
KOZO FIBER for his paper and it is very, very nice. Why not go and see
it? It's great!!
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