A comparative look at four different Korean papermakers, all using the traditional sheet formation style (webal tteugi): Jang Yong Hoon of Jang Ji Bang in Gapyeong, Shin Hyun Seh of Shin Hyun Seh Traditional Hanji in Uiryeong, Jang Eung Yeoll of Wonju Hanji in Wonju, and Jang Seong Woo of Jang Ji Bang in Gapyeong.

A step-by-step documentation of how to make traditional Korean handmade paper (hanji), as filmed on a site visit in the southernmost mainland province of Korea.

Jang Yong-hoon was appointed in 2010 as the national intangible cultural property holder of papermaking in Korea. He was the Gyeonggi-do provincial holder for many years prior to his national designation. The father of my teacher, Jang Seong-woo, at Jang Ji Bang, helped me “get” Korean sheet formation technique when I struggled at the vat. He has since passed away but will always be remembered as one of the last traditional hanji makers of the pre-internet age.

A visit to Mungyeong Hanji in North Gyeongsang Province during the International Hanji Seminar. Mr. Kim and his father showed us their current paper mill as well as their old mill, now a museum, and the dak they had harvested and steamed outdoors. December 17, 2014.

www.문경한지.kr/

A visit to Kadoide Washi in Niigata Prefecture, headed by Yasuo Kobayashi, a venerated papermaking elder who has trained and inspired countless papermakers around the world. This visit came on the heels of the annual kozo harvest and also coincided with a group of Israelis traveling with Izhar Neumann, another papermaker who kindly interpreted throughout. Nov 2014.

kadoidewashi.com/

A visit with Hiroaki Imai, the head of Oguni Washi in Niigata Prefecture. He created an entire tour from Nagaoka City Hall, which uses Oguni Washi’s paper, to the Asahi sake brewery, which uses their paper for their bottle labels, to his kozo field, paper mill, and shop. Nov 2014.

A visit to Jeju Island, mostly to visit master persimmon dyer Yang SoonJa, who owns and operates Mongsengee. She is an huge asset and treasure to this island and to Korea in general. Nov/Dec 2014.

mongsengee.co.kr/

Two visits to Sind in Tokyo to see Richard Flavin (artist and papermaker) and Ryoko Haraguchi (textile designer). On the first visit, I also met Emiko Nakano, a weaver who makes shifu (paper cloth). Nov 2014.

members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/sind/index.html
emikonakano.com/

A week-long visit to the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland to make hanji and related goodies. April 29 – May 6, 2013. Photos of Aimee by Mason, all other images by Aimee.

Scenes from a January 2009 apprenticeship at a papermill in Gapyeong run by 3rd and 4th generation papermakers about an hour and a half north and east of Seoul.

I spent a month in the mountains, some of it bitter cold, working alongside a family devoted to hanji and all of its manifestations. They fed me three square meals six days a week and the air was fresh. Hard work + gorgeous paper + lovely coworkers = the best month I’ve had in recent memory.

To see a video on how hanji is made, click here.

Visiting a couple that does jiseung (known formally as noyeokgae) and lacquering in Wonju, with my jiseung and dyeing teachers. May 21, 2009

A weekend visit to Youngdam Sunim at her Buddhist temple, nestled in the mountains of southeastern Korea. She is an expert papermaker and has a beautiful paper gallery on site. October 2008.

The Silk Road Cultural Festival in Korea, which displays the cultures of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Zarif Muhtorov of Uzbekistan and maker of Samarkand paper, and Jang Yong Hoon, an intangible heritage practitioner and maker of hanji, presented a paper exchange at the National Palace Museum in Seoul. November 28, 2008.

A visit to a traditional Korean papermaker, Shin Hyun-se, in the southernmost province of mainland Korea. Bo Kyung Kim of
Fides International invited me to a video shoot of the process of making hanji. Few practitioners are left today, and this particular one supplies Fides with high quality conservation-grade paper.