How to make Minogami    

Kozo (Paper Mulberry)

Kozo is a kind of mulberry. It grows about two or three meters high in a year.    

　

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Harvesting kozo

We harvest kozo in winter.  After cutting down we cook them in a big cauldron.    

 

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Stripping kozo bark

Minogami is made from white bark of kozo. We have to shave black and green parts of bark to get clean white bark.  

 

 

　

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Bleaching white bark in the river

Some of the non-fibrous constituents are removed by clear local water. It changes the fiber and finished paper to light color.

　

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Cooking white bark

Only soda ash is used as an alkali to free the fiber from the non-cellulose.

   

 

　

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Removing kozo fiber

Freeing the cooked bark of any remaining specks or tough areas by handwork. 

   

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Forming sheets of Minogami

The unique side to side motion is used in forming sheets of Minogami.

 

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Separating sheets and brushing onto boards

The sheets piled up are pressed slowly. And they are　put separately onto boards and brushed. The boards are made of horse chestnut wood.  

 

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Drying by the Sun

Minogami is dried outdoors by the sunshine, while many contemporary papermakers use heated metal, indoor dryers. The sunshine dries Minogami slowly and bleaches it to soft color.

　

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Checking the papers

 Each paper is checked carefully through the light. By the thickness and the color, papers are separated and finished.