Keijusha
At Keijusha, two Japanese traditions meet: Yatsuo washi and katazome stencil dyeing. Yatsuo washi, developed in Toyama during the Muromachi period (1336–1573), was once used to wrap the region’s medicines, and when industrial production began to eclipse the local paper trade, Yatsuo native Keisuke Yoshida set out to preserve it. While recovering from illness in his hometown, Yoshida encountered the writings of Mingei founder Soetsu Yanagi and soon after met the celebrated stencil artist Keisuke Serizawa. Their collaboration united Yoshida’s expertise in papermaking with Serizawa’s bold designs, laying the foundations for Keijusha, established in 1960. Today the workshop produces washi paper boxes using katazome, where rice paste is applied through hand-cut stencils before layers of vivid color are brushed on, then washed and dried by hand.
At Keijusha, two Japanese traditions meet: Yatsuo washi and katazome stencil dyeing. Yatsuo washi, developed in Toyama during the Muromachi period (1336–1573), was once used to wrap the region’s medicines, and when industrial production began to eclipse the local paper trade, Yatsuo native Keisuke Yoshida set out to preserve it. While recovering from illness in his hometown, Yoshida encountered the writings of Mingei founder Soetsu Yanagi and soon after met the celebrated stencil artist Keisuke Serizawa. Their collaboration united Yoshida’s expertise in papermaking with Serizawa’s bold designs, laying the foundations for Keijusha, established in 1960. Today the workshop produces washi paper boxes using katazome, where rice paste is applied through hand-cut stencils before layers of vivid color are brushed on, then washed and dried by hand.