About the Museum

About Ino-cho Paper Museum

Ino-cho Paper Museum opened in1985 with the purpose of promoting “Tosa Washi”.At the museum we exhibit the history and culture of washi, its raw materials and its tools. We have Washi demonstrations, papermaking program and retail shop.We also offer a place for cultural activities on occasion we also hold international and local exhibitions.

History of Tosa Washi

Tosa washi was made more than a thousand years ago since there is a record that it was applied as a tax. It is said that Tsurayuki Kino, the Provincial Governor and famous poet who wrote “Tosa Diary”, encouraged the paper making in Tosa. In the Edo Period, sets of seven colored Tosa washi were created and since they were the gifts to the shogunate, Tosa washi became well known to the general public. In the Meiji Period, Genta Yoshii, the benefactor of the paper industry of Tosa, designed tengujo-shi and mitsumatakairyo-hanshi. He also contributed to the improvement of paper making tools and so laid the foundation for the development of the paper industry.

The Feature of Tosa Washi

Tosa washi is characterized by its abundance of varieties of which approximately 300. It is used extensively in making shoji, fusuma, and other interior fittings. It’s also used in creating woodblock prints, ink wash paintings, and Japanese paintings. Additionally, it is used in the restoration of art museum pieces and mending of books. Tosa washi is thin, uniform in composition, and strong. Tosa tengujo-shi and usuyou-gampi in particular, with their thickness of 0.03mm, are the thinnest of all handmade paper and are made exclusively in Ino-cho.

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