Okinawa | Ryukyushi Paper

Okinawa | Ryukyushi Paper

$500.00

[Private Masterclass]
$500 USD per group

Please make your booking at least 7 days in advance

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Join one of the only Okinawan Ryukyushi paper artisans and witness the preservation of an ancient craft

Details

Private Experience
Location: Naha City, Okinawa
2 hours
5 people max per booking. Minimum 2 participants, solo guests may book at the price of 2 participants.
Offered in Japanese, with a friendly Deeper Japan guide interpreting in English

Turning the Next Page

Created using the alkaline waters that flow through the limestone hills underneath Shuri Castle and native natural materials, Ryukyu washi is an art whose origins extend all the way back to the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom. First recorded appearing in Okinawa in 1694, the art of paper-making flourished in the region surronding Shuri and was a craft actively managed by the royal court, with an abundance of papermaking studios populating the pristine streams meandering out from below the castle. Rather than just following washi traditions learned and mastered from mainland Japan, Okinawan washi uses native plants, like the basho tree, resulting in a heftier paper with more natural grit. However, this craft was nearly demolished in the Meiji Period. It wasn't until National Living Treasure washi paper artisan Eishirou Abe and his apprentice, Kimihiko Katsu, made careful efforts to study this historic Okinawan craft that Ryukyushi paper could revive itself from the brink of total extinction. Kimihiko's own apprentice, Kiyoshi-san, still lives and operates out of the stream-side studio passed down to him by his master, carrying on the tradition of Okinawan washi. A craftsman to his core, Kiyoshi is one of the very few washi artisans remaining in Okinawa, involved in all operations of the paper crafting procedures. Join him in his historic studio for an inside look into how this artful tradition is dedicatedly preserved for future generations of Okinawans to come.

What you’ll do

Learn about Ryukyu-style washi paper from one of Okinawa's last remaining Ryukyushi paper artisans. Observe some of the master's daily processes in his washi workshop. See some of the master's finished products as well as the raw products taken from nature.