Keijusha

Rooted in Yatsuo Town in Toyama Prefecture, Keijusha has been a long established company that uses freshly-melted snow water to make high-quality Japanese paper. At a time when the industry was already in decline due to substitutes such as machine-made paper and plastic, the founder, Keisuke Yoshida, established a paper-making company, which later became Keijusha. Keisuke Yoshida played an important role to revive traditional paper-making in Japan. During the Mingei (folk art) movement, his paper products were highly praised by Mingei leader Muneyoshi Yanagi, prompting the development of a type of washi (used by famed Mingei textile designer Keisuke Serizawa) that wouldn't tear even when wet. Yoshida studied stencil dyeing and design directly from Keisuke Serizawa, enabling him to produce outstanding washi-paper items. His sense of aesthetics still lives vividly on throughout Toyama, while making Toyama a more beautiful place.