After my Echizen visit, I returned to Japan a few months later to further my education in washi. This time, I headed south to Tokushima Prefecture where I had signed up for a two-day winter harvest and papermaking workshop at Awagami Factory. This workshop involved work. Physical work. On day one, we headed up into the mountain to a small field where we cut down kozo branches with hand saws. The rest of the day was spent stripping bark off another batch of branches that had been steamed for several hours. If you think that cutting down trees is strenuous work, you’re right. Thank goodness for Advil.

On day two, with nothing but a small knife in hand, we learned how to scrape off the dark part of the bark (kurokawa) to expose the more desirable white bark underneath (shirokawa). The rest of the afternoon was free for us to make our own handmade washi!