echizengami　越前紙

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Handmade paper *washi 和紙 produced in Echizen 越前 (now Fukui prefecture), probably Japan's most famous paper-making district. The earliest reference to echizengami occurs in the SHOUSOUIN MONJO 正倉院文書, indicating that it was already well-known in the year 774. An old legend from the village of Okamoto 岡本 claims that the god of the local shrine appeared to the villagers in the form of a young girl and taught them how to make paper. Echizen is best known for its production of houshogami 奉書紙 (see *housho 奉書), which began in the Kamakura period. Although houshogami was produced throughout Japan, paper made in the so-called Five Villages of Echizen (Goka chihou 五箇地方; Okamoto 岡本, Ootaki 大滝, Iwamoto 岩本, Sadatomo 定友, and Oizu 不老), was considered to be of the highest quality. From the Muromachi period onwards Echizen produced an extremely large quantity and wide variety of high quality papers, including *danshi 檀紙 and *suiharagami 杉原紙 made from mulberry tree fibers (see *choshi 楮紙), *torinokogami 鳥の子紙, *maniaigami 間似合紙, and *usuyou 薄様 made from ganpi 雁皮 fibres *ganpishi 雁皮紙, and various decorated papers such as *uchigumori 打曇 (borderd withclouds). Because of its very high reputation Echizen sold paper to all areas of Japan. In the Meiji period new techniques and new paper types such as gahoushi 雅邦紙 were developed. Gahoushi is a very large paper, 5.5 sq. meters, used for *nihonga 日本画 (Japanese painting). The production of *mashi 麻紙, which had been discontinued, was revived. A whole variety of decorated papers, including many new designs were also produced, particularly for use as fusumagami 襖紙 (paper used to make or decorate sliding doors and screens). Vellum was produced to export to Europe.

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