paper

Washi (和紙) is a type of Japanese paper , and is pronounced as washi (わし) in Japanese. Its origin is said to be when Damjing of Goguryeo introduced the method of making it. Washi is similar to Korean hanji ( 한지 ) in that it is made by making fibers out of the bark of trees such as the mulberry tree, the trident tree, and the anpi tree, soaking them in river water, soaking them, and then straining them with bamboo screens . In fact, papermaking technology was transmitted from China to Korea and then to Japan, so their origins are the same.

Washing paper is made by placing fiber raw materials dissolved in water on a mold called sketa, shaking it slowly to remove the water, and adjusting the remaining fibers to a uniform thickness. This technique is called 'paper knitting'.[1] Because it is made by hand using tree fibers, a product of the natural world, each piece of paper is finished with a different expression. Like Hanji, the fibers are very long and tough compared to Western-style paper. As materials, not only kudji tree but also trees such as Japanese paper mulberry and Japanese paper mulberry (ミツマタ) are used.

Washi is not only used for making books such as paintings and calligraphy, but also used as an interior building material such as sliding doors (shoji), which serves as window paper, and fusuma (襖) that blocks rooms. Washi paper is also used for the restoration of world-class ancient cultural properties. For example, Japanese paper was used to restore old documents that were damaged by the Florentine flood in 1966. For decades, it has been used as a representative recording medium for long-term preservation cultural assets. On the contrary , it is widely used for various purposes such as Japanese painting, woodblock printing, origami , which shows soft and uniform characteristics along with excellent preservation .

In Joseon , it was called waeji (倭紙). Waemulberry, the raw material of Japanese paper, was highly evaluated as being lighter and richer than the heavy and hairy mulberry tree, which is the raw material of Korean paper. King Sejong the Great brought Japanese mulberry trees from Daemado and promoted a nationwide distribution project, and cultivated them in Gyeongsang-do, the southern coast, and Hwanghae-do to produce Japanese paper itself. #

It is also used as a material for Japanese yen banknotes, and for this reason, its lifespan is shorter than that of banknotes from other countries that use cotton paper. Moreover, since it is more expensive than cotton, the production cost is also considerably higher than that of banknotes from other countries. Instead, due to the production cost being much higher than the face value and the difficult manufacturing method, it is difficult to make counterfeit notes and even if counterfeit notes are made, the profit margin is not balanced, so there are few counterfeit notes. At one time, it was replaced with cotton paper to solve this problem, but it is said that due to the spread of counterfeit money, it was replaced with washi paper. Because of this influence, counterfeiting is difficult, so it appears that Central and South American drug cartels and European mafia operators do not forge.