A peek behind the scenes… the wondrous world of washi

My Japanese paper storage unit able to accomodate paper up to 43” by 33” in size. The actual unit is 48” wide, 35” deep and 40” tall. Made with 2x material, baltic birch ply and rolled door skin material.

Using handmade Japanese paper (washi) on my lanterns has always been such an important part in the big picture of my lantern and lamp making. I’ve watched many videos and read much about this ancient paper making craft, it truly is remarkable. So much has changed in the world when it comes to this precious resource and tradition, sadly not for the better.

I am a complete newbie when it comes to washi. I am excited to be at this place, knowing there is so much play and fun ahead as I move forward with this aspect of the lantern making process. I will share a little of what I’ve learned below and if you are more familiar with washi, I would greatly appreciate any corrections along with any wisdom that would be useful to readers.

Heritage washi (handmade) vs machine made always remains a challenging choice when considering cost, availability and application. Given the choice of using machine made papers from all over the world, I have settled on washi made in Japan. While I would love to use handmade heritage washi exclusively, it’s simply not practical. Availability, costs and other variables play an important part in the bigger picture.

What is important when choosing a machine made washi is how it is made and the use and kinds of traditional materials in the final product. I have limited but first hand experience in this area, having spent a lot of time testing and choosing the papers I offer and use.

On the left, a small collection of Japanese decorative papers - Chiogami and Katazome-shi.
On the right, plain Japanese papers, some heritage, some machine made but using traditional materials.

Tools of the trade, my paper trimmer.

I am very fortunate to have a Canadian supplier who has been around since 1980. I reference several of their papers in the Artwork/Papers section of my website and include a link to their website too, a must visit. Needless to say, as a reseller, I am able to provide you with their catalog of papers for use on the lanterns and lamps I make.

Shown above on the left are decorative Japanese papers, Chiyogami and Katazome-shi. There is an almost endless variety of patterns available. I carry a small selection. These make great accent faces to some of the lanterns and lamps I make, you have likely already stumbled across them. Be sure to read a previous blog post where I talk about these papers in more detail.

Shown above on the right are some of the Heritage and machine made papers I carry. Again, you can find what I usually have available in the Artwork/Papers section of my website. These papers are used for their charm and character and are not suitable for going through a printer. I have other papers specifically made for this purpose and I share more on these below, along with some pictures.

I am looking forward to having the time to play with ink, dyes and paint and techniques such as paper marbling in order to be able to offer something unusual.

On the left, above, some wonderful patterned tissue papers along with some natural and white Shoji screen paper (rolls).

Shown below is some of my test printing of various Japanese papers, all machine made but some pure Kozo versions and others with the addition of other materials. It is interesting to see how well they all handle the ink and colour, which offers the most contrast and which are more dull and tend to be less crisp in detail. Another deciding factor is how well the artwork shows once back illuminated and how the paper texture shows, no paper behaves the same.

On the right, above, some washi papers suitable for covering an entire lantern or lamp, with unique fiber patterns. These offer a wonderful compliment for the less decorative faces, when using Chiyogami or Katazome-shi silk screen papers on a lantern or lamp.

Shown below is another paper supplier in Japan. These papers are very costly and available only from the USA in limited supply. I have purchased this directly from Japan in the past, but shipping cost more than doubles the cost of this paper, so there are no savings vs buying it from the USA. This is the paper I use for inkjet printing as it is designed for that purpose.

I have been inspired by others creating their own unique artistic papers using leaves and flowers, not for the use in lanterns, but rather framed pictures.

To the left and below are my first steps towards trying to produce my own custom decorative paper with leaves for use on a lantern. I will end up “laminating” the leaf into the paper with a second layer of paper. My initial approach is to try using two thin sheets of paper as a starting point, or using a thicker first sheet and almost tissue thin second sheet in order to ensure as much of the leaf detail shows though as possible. Until trying both I won’t know which one will work best.

I have a vacuum press that I will use with cauls to ensure I get nice flat sheets of paper. I use this press as part of making my lantern boxes, but more on that another time. I will use a natural Japanese starch of sorts, that dries clear, to glue the two piece of paper together. No doubt there will be much experimenting of this when the time arrives.

For now I’ve been collecting and pressing a variety of maple leaves, my favorite being those from the Japanese Maple tree. The leaf press I made is pictured below on the left, I made four of these at the time, they work pretty well for my purposes. The result shown below on the right.

A little jig to help me position the artwork on the lids
(Artwork by Deni Minar).

I wanted to include at least one useful tip in this blog post, a thank you for reading this far…

Positioning artwork on the lids took much trial and error in order to come up with an approach that provided a satisfactory result and could be done repeatedly. There is still a lot of work and precise cutting required, but the square jig you see to the right helps tremendously. Here is how it works…

First steps involve printing off the artwork using a template I have created. This template provides crop marks that enable me to precisely cut out a square section of washi and corresponding perfectly centered artwork.

Next, the archival double sided tape is applied to the circular lexan lid inserts. In order to avoid fingerprints, the insert is pushed into the wooden jig, it is and needs to be a tight fit, with the protection layer still on. Once in the jig, it is removed.

Next, the square paper piece is carefully laid into the square groove, starting at one end, working gradually to the opposite end, firmly pressing the paper onto the lid. This is a tricky process and takes time.

Finally, I push the lid out with my finger (finger hole you see), and cut off the excess with the knife, using the lexan as a guide. The blade needs to be held at a very precise angle to ensure it does not cut into the lid or leave a paper edge. And there you have it!

I hope you are able to sense my enthusiasm and love for the paper side of lantern making and in turn become inspired to entertain creating your very own unique paper. Be sure to comment and post below, thank you.