Japanese paper

Gudrun Aurand <aurandg [at] wsu__edu> writes

>The archives at WSU own two small volumes of a Japanese fairy tale
>series: 15cm long x 10cm wide. col. ill. Engl. translation published by
>T. Hasegawa, Tokyo, no date I can read. The material looks and feels
>like thin crepe-paper. Held against light it reveals a loose weave as
>with crepe (crinkled cloth of silk or cotton). What is this
>combination material called. How is it made?

The paper is called crepe-paper. Takejiro Hasegawa used it for
children's books as it was thought to be more durable than other
papers, and because he thought it gave his books more of a
"Japanese" appearance for the export market.  The Peabody Essex
Museum had a show of Hasegawa imprints in 1994, and a catalogue is
available

    Sharf, Frederic Alan
    Takejiro Hasegawa: Meiji Japan's preeminent publisher of
    wood-block-illustrated crepe-paper books
    Salem, Mass. 1994

A good description of the process used to make crepe paper is given
on pp. 30-31:  wetted, printed sheets were pressed between special
cardboard molds with parallel grooves. The position of the sheets
changed for each pressing and the process repeated nine or ten
times. The catalogue also offers a list of other titles to be
printed on the same type of paper.  If you need more information on
Hasegawa, Lisa Jones <ljones [at] mail__utexas__edu>, manuscripts
cataloguer at the Harry Ransom Center, is an excellent source.

Karen L. Pavelka
pavelka [at] mail__utexas__edu
Senior Lecturer, Preservation and Conservation Studies
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
SZB 564/D7000, University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas 78712-1276
512-471-8286
Fax: 512-471-8285

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:39
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