Preparing the colors applied to the washi requires exceptional skill. A single design may use six colors, yet hundreds or even thousands of combinations are possible. The artisan must envision the result while mixing, even though liquid pigment changes in appearance as it dries and the final effect cannot be known until it is printed. Color mixing is both the most important stage in determining the quality of the work and a demanding task that depends on experience.
Yuzen Color Paper Studio
The Alchemy of Color & Pattern
Nantan, Kyoto
Originally developed for kimono, Yuzen is celebrated for its intricate patterns and vibrant colors. In this studio, the same techniques are reimagined through handcrafted decorative paper, transforming a textile tradition into a new form of artistic expression.
After touring the working studio, guests select six colors from more than twenty options and learn how Yuzen's color-separation techniques are used to build layers of pattern and depth. While the carved molds remain the same, each participant creates a unique composition through their own color choices.
The freedom to combine colors often leads to unexpected results. Some of the most memorable works emerge from combinations the artisans themselves would never have imagined, occasionally revealing new possibilities within a centuries-old tradition.
Completed works may be enjoyed as decorative paper or transformed into functional objects such as folding fans and hand fans.
In this experience, participants can mix their own original colors. Standing at the same worktables used by the craftspeople, they apply color to washi with stencils under direct guidance. It is a rare opportunity to work in a production studio that is normally closed to visitors.
- Textured Decorative Paper That Delights Its Recipient
Maruyama Senko’s hand-printed Yuzen washi is produced sheet by sheet with both traditional and original Japanese patterns and carefully balanced colors. The thickly applied pigments give the paper vivid color, visual depth, and a richly textured surface.
In ordinary commercial printing, ink generally soaks into the paper or forms a very thin layer on its surface, producing a flat finish. In Maruyama Senko’s process, pigment sits thickly on the paper and creates a dimensional effect unlike conventional printing. Because every sheet is printed by hand, slight variations become part of its character.
Yuzen washi can be made into many different objects. Its uses range from origami and gift wrapping to drum decoration, covers for goshuin stamp books, and clothing for Japanese dolls.
- A Dynamic Paper-Dyeing Studio with Roots in Kimono Yuzen
Maruyama Senko is located near the Oi River, also known as the Katsura River, in a mountain basin extending toward Yagi in Nantan. Vast rice fields and the Saburogatake mountain range form a distinctly rural Japanese landscape around the studio.
For approximately 30 years, the studio has adapted Kyo-Yuzen—said to have been developed by Miyazaki Yuzenzai during the Genroku era (1688–1704)—to washi paper. The company’s president applied skills traditionally used to dye fabric to washi, developing original patterns sold as chiyogami and Yuzen washi. Inside the studio, long tables are lined with sheets of paper as craftspeople use stencils to print each one by hand, carefully preventing the patterns from shifting.
- Dyeing Specialist
- Kazutake Akiyama
- For approximately 30 years, Maruyama Senko has adapted Kyo-Yuzen—a dyeing tradition said to have been developed by Miyazaki Yuzenzai during the Genroku era—to washi paper. Company president Kazutake Akiyama applied techniques originally used on fabric to create original patterns on washi, which the studio sells as chiyogami and Yuzen washi.
Access
30 minutes by train and a 10-minute walk from Kyoto Station
The marker shows the approximate area.
The exact address will be provided when your reservation is confirmed.
Experiences
- Reserve
Kyoto Yuzen Washi Dyeing Experience
33,000 JPY / personDiscover how the decorative techniques of Yuzen dyeing are adapted to washi paper in a working artisan studio. After observing the craftspeople at work, choose six colors from more than twenty options and use stencils to hand-dye five richly patterned sheets of Yuzen washi under expert guidance. Each sheet measures approximately 970 × 640 mm.
This two-hour experience offers rare access to a production studio and an opportunity to create distinctive Japanese decorative paper. Your finished works will be shipped to you after the experience, with shipping included in the plan.
