Online dictionary of history and traditions in Japan: Japanese paper

This is the online Japanese dictionary developed by Free Light Software. With our tool, you can find easily an equivalent Japanese word from English, or send queries to Japanese search engines without knowing Japanese translation. Click on a Japanese word to browse in Japanese search engines. Click on a globe icon to find the position of a locality on Japanese map (maybe take a few seconds to display). The dictionary of Japanese general terms is available at Online Japanese dictionary.

French version

Japanese paper

和紙日本紙
alternative words: Washi, Wa-shi, Wa shi, Nihonshi, Nihon-shi, Nihon shi
keywords: china , craft , korea
related topics: Heian period , Kamakura period , Edo period , Shoji
related web sites: http://www.kippo.or.jp/culture/washi/index.htm
explanation: Invented in China, its fabrication technique was brought to Japan in 610 by a Korean priest, Doncho. During Heian period, fancy papers that the nobility used to write down their poems were created from the official factories. In the following Kamakura period, the samurai clan needed utility paper while the factories were decentralized and Japanese paper reached its apogee during Edo period with more that 100 varieties but declined with an arrival of western papers.