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Kozo is Japanese mulberry tree, traditional ingredient for Japanese hand made paper called washi. All Japanese paper used to be made of either kozo, gampi or mitsumata plants, by hand. In early 1900s, manufacturing shoji paper became a reality. In 1950s rayon and vinyl join the ingredients and mass production started. About a half century later, handmade washi paper is hard to come by. The trend now for shoji paper is stronger, whiter and easier to attach. To make the paper more white, fluorescent substance is usually added to most of regular shoji paper, since Japanese prefer bright white shoji paper to give more natural light to the room. Our kozo shoji paper is manufactured by using 100% kozo, with NO fluorescent substance added. This paper is a reproduction of traditional washi by a manufacturer in Yamanashi, Japan. The city where this factory is located is called "Ichikawa" and has been famous for washi for more than a thousand years (!) Washi makers in Ichikawa had an honor to offer their washi to the emperor about a thousand years ago, and the product has been their pride ever since. The government of shogun also adopted Ichikawa washi. The makers tried to reproduce the essence of Ichikawa washi, and that is why it has such a beautiful color of "Ivory". |
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Last updated: 04/22/05 |
What's
kozo?