Paper Making

It was so cool to watch them make paper. They begin with boiling the husks in a huge outdoor pot. The charcoal (made in the shop down the road) is shoveled in under the vat and the husks are put inside and simmered. Once they’re ready, the fibers are hand separated and then mixed into a pulp. I’m sure there’s a bit more to it but my Japanese leaves much to be desired so my knowledge comes from the available photos and watching the women working.
They eventually pour the pulp into a large holding tank and mix it with a lot of water. They have a very shallow prepared tray they use with bamboo mats. They swish the tray through the water a number of times before they pull it up to drain. They then open the tray and pull up the bamboo with the wet sheet of paper on it. It is put upside down on the rack and then the bamboo sheet is carefully pulled up. Next the woman adds dried flowers that she had and then repeats the process to create a sheet with the flowers embedded. Fascinating to watch. Once she has a complete stack created, she puts them in a press to squeeze out the water. They had a large curved, heated metal sheet that they took the pressed papers to and laid them against the metal to dry completely.
There you have it….paper making 101!