The main actor in returning the spotlight to a lost paper art.

There is a rare place in Tokyo’s Ueno district to find and enjoy traditional ‘Edo Karakami’ paper. This is the showroom and shop of Tokyo Matsuya. On the second floor can be found sample fusuma sliding doors and byobu room screens, while on the floor below are small writing pads, and envelopes for gifts – all making use of the karakami paper. Tokyo Matsuya was founded in 1690 by Ihei Matsuya as a dealer in kusazoshi woodblock printed literature and other forms of early publishing. Subsequently at the end of the Edo era and into the Meiji period (in the late 19th century), the business began to specialise in paper products for the home such as fusuma paper, paper for shoji partitions, material for hanging scrolls, and in various types of hardware of the day. For Edo karakami printed paper, the chaos and collapsed demand of the war years and aftermath, led Tokyo Matsuya to abandon the trade. That was until the current leader of the business Rihee Ban, decided in 1992 to revive this area of work. Three hundred years since Tokyo Matsuya’s inception, this was a project worthy of the anniversary. The result was a book of 393 paper and karakami samples, entitled Irodori. From here on, working with craftspeople who maintain the difficult skills needed to print Edo karakami, Tokyo Matsuya has acted a distributor and publisher for the traditional paper, with the capacity to produce beautifully to order.

Tokyo Matsuya Inc.
6-1-3,Higashi-Ueno,Taito-ku,Tokyo 110-0015
Tel:+81-3-3842-3785
Fax:+81-3-3842-3820
Rihee Ban
showroom@tokyomatsuya.co.jp
http://www.tokyomatsuya.co.jp/