The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) held an intergovernmental committee meeting in Paris, France in 2014 and decided to register the Japanese government's nomination of the Japanese handmade washi paper technique as an intangible cultural heritage. The committee recognised that the traditional techniques are handed down from one generation to the next, creating a link between local communities.
I am currently drawing pictures with this washi and silk.
I use about 10 metres of washi a year.
The price is 2000 Australian dollars.
My teacher is a traditional Japanese-style painter, and she told me that in the past, Japanese-style painters were not only taught to paint, but also to be polite and respectful.
Fortunately, my teacher was not the type to give strict instructions, but she did once tell me once and for all about the purchase of this washi and silk.
It is a rule to buy 10 metres every year.
Studios with this handmade washi technique are collapsing all over the place. Even if there is this UNESCO registration, I think there will be more studios closing down within the next five years.
It is the bill that is now hitting us, because we painters did not support their studios by buying cheap, machine-made paper.
Washi is a paper that needs to be worked in cold water to make it stronger.
The process is very demanding, but the paper is said to last 1000 years.
In fact, the reason why many ancient Japanese books have survived is because they are written on washi.
To be honest, even if there were three metres of last year's washi left
We must also protect their tradition by buying it every year.
Because once that tradition is broken, it's almost impossible to rebuild.
The method I'm drawing now is also a very old method.
I hope to be able to teach it to the next generation in another 10 years or so.
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