Top title: In the Paper Village - a dream of a new workshop

Sub title: Kyoto native Naho Murata strikes out on her own after 27 years of training

Middle title: "Passing on skills and spirit to the next generation"

A female artisan specializing in handmade washi paper - originally from outside the prefecture - has struck out on her own to open a workshop in the Imadate district of Echizen City, a major production hub for Echizen washi. This marks the first time a new handmade washi workshop has opened since the late 1960s and early 1970s, a period when the industry was experiencing rapid growth. "It is vital to pass on this production region and its accumulated wisdom to the next generation," she says. "We absolutely cannot let this tradition die out with us."

The artisan is Naho Murata (49), a native of Kyoto. In January of last year, she opened "Tesuki Washi Naho" in Otaki-cho, Echizen City. According to the prefectural washi industry cooperative, the number of member companies - centered in the Imadate district - peaked at 103 in 1973 but has since declined due to issues such as a lack of successors; the figure now stands at 44, with Murata being the latest new entrant.

While studying fashion at a junior college in Kyoto, she became interested in washi as a clothing material and visited a paper mill in the Imadate district. Driven by curiosity and a desire to try making it herself, she took a job there. Although she initially intended to move to a different craft production area after a few years, her two-year apprenticeship exposed her to the rigorous nature of learning by observing the techniques of veteran artisans in their seventies and eighties.

She also came to appreciate the weight of a 1,500-year-old industry - one where artisans both competed and cooperated while revering "Kawakami Gozen" (enshrined at Okamoto and Otaki Shrines in Otaki-cho) as the deity of papermaking. "I want to immerse myself in this historic production area and challenge my own limits." With that resolve, she set her sights on eventually becoming independent.

A turning point came in her nineteenth year of employment. Just as she had mastered the entire papermaking process and was being entrusted with more responsibilities, her employer went out of business. She subsequently moved to "Udatsu no Kogeikan" (Udatsu Craft Museum), a cultural and educational facility dedicated to Echizen washi. There, she obtained certification as a Traditional Craftsperson and began demonstrating the handmade papermaking process to tourists. Reflecting on nine years spent sharing the appeal of washi (Japanese paper), she notes, "There was real fulfillment in interacting directly with individual customers, rather than just supplying paper to wholesalers."

Even after changing jobs, she continued to hone her skills as an artisan by helping out once a week - on her days off - at the workshop of Living National Treasure Ichibei Iwano IX (92). "Spending eight hours a day solely focused on washi under Ichibei-san’s guidance, I realized, 'I really want to concentrate on papermaking,' and recalled the dream of striking out on my own that I’d held in my twenties. I knew I had to move to the next stage."

She served as an instructor for the preservation society dedicated to "Echizen Torinoko-kami" - a gampi paper representative of the region - and played a role in its successful inscription on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list late last year.

Yet, she harbored anxieties about going independent: "Is it right for an outsider like me to set up shop in this historic washi community?"

What gave her the final push was the encouragement of people she had met through her work at the craft center - customers who told her, "I want to buy your paper." Being able to lease leftover equipment from her former papermaking workshop also helped solidify her decision. With a woodblock print publisher who had encouraged her venture becoming her client, she has successfully operated the business for over a year, gaining confidence along the way.

This is the new banner raised by an artisan who grew into her craft after arriving from out of prefecture to join a community that has long safeguarded this traditional industry. "My next goal is to welcome colleagues to work alongside me," Naho says. "I want to become an artisan who can properly pass on both the techniques and the spirit of the craft, just as the masters who taught me did."