Monks & Warriors

In Japan, paper has a rich and romantic history often imbued with unexpected ritual and literary significance. Japanese Samurai warriors were expected to carry a few folded sheets of Washi, traditional paper, tucked into the front folds of his kimono. The paper could be used as a tissue, to write a missive or to wipe the blood off his sword before re-sheathing. The samurai were not just men of the sword, but men of literature and culture and in the pre-medieval period, samurai were required to be not just marshal but also literate. The samurai adorned gifts with noshi, a white paper folded with strips of dried abalone or meat as a way of wishing the recipient plentiful good fortune.

“Washi making in Suruga (Shizuoka Pref.)” by Hiroshige Utagawa Ⅲ Meiji period(1877）. Coloured woodblock print.

By the nineteenth century in Japan, over 68,000 papermakers not only produced a wide array of papers by hand but also made soldier's helmets, waterproof raincoats, imitation leather goods and disposable handkerchiefs. Shinto monks would wear shifu (cloth woven from paper yarn) or kamiko (cloth made of paper) to purify themselves. It is said that kami, the Japanese word for paper, has the same pronunciation as the word for a higher being or god, because pure white paper was associated with holiness and sacred places in the Shinto religion.