PAPER IN JAPAN.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1521, 26 February 1886, Page 3

PAPER IN JAPAN.

When a people contrive to make saucepans, fine pocket-handkerchiefs, and hjiiU»rn' water-proof overcoats out of paper, may bo considered as having pretty thoroughly mastered a useful art; aud thin is demonstrated by the above articles of Japanese manufacture, with the additional little circumstance that the saucepans are generally used over charcoal fires. According to their own account, these ancient islanders wrote upon silk faced with linen, and also used very thin wood shavings for the same purpose, until nearly the close of the third Christian era. About a. d. 280 paper was lirst imp rted from the Coren, and superseding the home-made fabrics, monopolised the market till the year a. d. GlO, when the king of Corea sent two priests to Japan to establish the mauufacture. This paper was easily torn, and liable to be destroyed bv worms, and, b< sides, did not take the ink well. These manifold disadvantages attracted the attention of Taishi the son of the reigning Mikado, who substituted, as material, the baijt of a species of paper mul*

berry, which is still extensively cultivated for the purpose. By Taishi's orders the tree was planted throughout the country, the method of manufacture publicly taught, and thus the industry was commenced which has since so prosperouly continued. At the present time two hundred and sixty-three sorts of paper are manufactured in Teddo. In regard to this immense number of styles, the national love of formalities must be considered ; as, for instance, in addition to the usual varieties to which we are accustomed as appropriate for deeds, public documents, letters, notes, etc., the Japanese list mentions four distinct kinds intended to be exclusively used for poetry and songs. There are also kinds enumerated as employed for umbrellas, hats, lanterns, and waterproof clothing, one described as serving for candlewick and pockethandkerchiefs, while another is intended for handkerchiefs otilv, and another is used for dressing dolk Special kinds are prepared exclusively as wrappings for the several styles of religious, civic, and social gifts. The excellence in the manufacture is due, in a great degree, to the fact that Japan fu rushes a number of trees and shrubs with a fnrous bark particularly adapted as a material for p2.per, nnd several plants of which the roots, seed, or sap yieid a natural size for the surface of the sheet.

The species of mulberry first used in the seventh century is still regarded as containing the best fibre, and is extensively cultivated. The plants are annually cut down to the roots until the fifth year, when, by this treatment, the wood has become dense and strong. The branches are then cut into lengths of about one yard, and steamed in a straw vessel over a boiler. As Boon as the bark begins to separate from the wood, it is stripped off by the hand, the wood itself being preserved for fuel. The bark is then hoisted upon poles to dry, by exposure to the air, and when dry it is separated into bundles weighing about thirty ttvo-pounds each. The dry bark is them immened in running water for twelve hours, after which the outer husk or bark is scraped off to serve as the material for an inferior kind of paper. The remaining or inner portion is again washed in running water, and after pressure under heavy stones, the fibre is boiled with ashes. After another washing it is well pounded, and moulded into balls. I lie balls are next thrown into a wooden trough, and mixed with a pulp, together with a paste made from the root of the tororo, a shrub somewhat resembling the cotton plaut. A portion of this pulp is next placed in a frame consisting of an inner and an outer portion with a false bottom of plaited bamboo. A dexterous and peculiar jerk from the skilled operator nets the pulp in the frame, and it is then so placed as to permit the water to drain oif. The sheet of paper is lifted from the frame with a piece of bamboo, an I laid with a brush on a drying board, the side adhering to the board forming the face of the paper. The paper "warranted to wash" is made with a different kind of paste; and in the oil-paper for waterproof cloth* a a glue is used made from young fern shoots stained with the expressed juice of ui.ripo persimmons. Colou r s are applied in powder mixed with, beau paste.

Several of the trees and plants used in the manufacture of paper are described as being the object of careful cultivation, especially in the manuring and preparation of the soil.