Oguni Washi, one of the most beautiful Japanese paper in the world

Oguni Washi has been handed down from generation to generation in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture. Oguni washi is designated as a national and prefectural intangible cultural asset. Washi made by the traditional handmade method is attracting attention not only from Japan but also from all over the world.
The secret of its beauty is snow. When the skins of kozo (paper mulberry), the raw material for washi, and the paper are dried in the sun, they are exposed to a lot of ultraviolet rays by using the snow, which destroys the pigments in the kozo and the brown components of the paper. This process leads to beautiful white paper. Other innovations unique to areas with heavy snowfall are also used, such as the use of snow to preserve paper until spring.
Oguni Washi, produced from the careful and traditional techniques of craftsmen, is truly the crystallization of artisans! The small articles made of Oguni Washi are all strong and have the warmth unique to Japanese paper.