Every piece from DNJ is made of paper and reclaimed materials (as much as possible).
Rag paper
Rag paper is a premium type of paper made primarily from recycled textiles, such as cotton, hemp, and linen rags. Historically, before wood pulp became common, discarded fabrics were the main source of fiber for papermaking in Europe. Rag paper is an early example of sustainable recycling. By transforming old textiles into new sheets, rag paper offers exceptional strength, durability, and archival quality. DNJ proudly holds a membership with Papermakers of Victoria, where we make use of the Reina and Lander beaters to beat our textile waste into pulp to use in our work.
We make rag paper ourselves, or buy it from makers in Europe and the UK.
Japanese paper / Washi / 和紙
Originating in China in the 10th century, Japanese washi paper is made from the inner bark of the Paper Mulberry tree. It has many, many uses, from books to clothing, bags, mats, shoes, boxes, umbrellas, architecture, water bottles, lamps, and so much more.
Washi paper is different from the kind of paper that you would find in a receipt, or in a notebook. Thanks to the length of it’s fibers and the way it is made, it is more flexible and durable than other kinds of pulp paper.
Making paper is a communal activity and requires the labour of an extended network of people. At it’s peak, there were 70,000+ handmade papermaking houses in Japan. Now there are less than 150. Our suppliers are all over Japan, and we work with a distributor to source and pay our suppliers equitably, which means that each sheet can cost up to $60 AUD. Our supplier gives us an exhaustive amount of information about each sheet, including the source of raw materials, type of water used, name of the person who made each sheet, techniques applied, etc.
We use only handmade paper and glady share information about the maker with anyone who asks.
This video details the intensive process of making one sheet of handmade washi paper.
Here is another.
Here are some of the other materials that we use:
Agar Agar / Kanten / 寒天
Agar may have been discovered in Japan in 1658 by Mino Tarōzaemon (美濃 太郎左衞門), an innkeeper in current Fushimi-ku, Kyoto who, according to legend, was said to have discarded surplus seaweed soup (Tokoroten) and noticed that it gelled later after a winter night's freezing. Over the following centuries, agar became a common gelling agent in several Southeast Asian cuisines. We use it as a finish on our paper “cloth”.
Konjac / Konnyaku / コンニャク
Konjac is a common name for the East and Southeast Asian plant Amorphophallus konjac, which has an edible corm (bulbo-tuber). It is also known as konjaku, konnyaku potato, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam. It is edible, and used in lots of Asian food products. We use it as a finish on our paper “cloth”.
Beeswax / Mitsuro / 蜜蝋
Beeswax is a product made from the honeycomb of the honeybee and other bees. The mixing of pollen oils into honeycomb wax turns the white wax into a yellow or brown color. Beeswax is used for high cholesterol, pain, fungal skin infections, and other conditions.
We use beeswax for waterproofing our products, and get it from Honey For Life.
Here are some of the other materials that we use:
Agar Agar / Kanten / 寒天
Agar may have been discovered in Japan in 1658 by Mino Tarōzaemon (美濃 太郎左衞門), an innkeeper in current Fushimi-ku, Kyoto who, according to legend, was said to have discarded surplus seaweed soup (Tokoroten) and noticed that it gelled later after a winter night's freezing. Over the following centuries, agar became a common gelling agent in several Southeast Asian cuisines. We use it as a finish on our paper “cloth”.
Konjac / Konnyaku / コンニャク
Konjac is a common name for the East and Southeast Asian plant Amorphophallus konjac, which has an edible corm (bulbo-tuber). It is also known as konjaku, konnyaku potato, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam. It is edible, and used in lots of Asian food products. We use it as a finish on our paper “cloth”.
Beeswax / Mitsuro / 蜜蝋
Beeswax is a product made from the honeycomb of the honeybee and other bees. The mixing of pollen oils into honeycomb wax turns the white wax into a yellow or brown color. Beeswax is used for high cholesterol, pain, fungal skin infections, and other conditions.
We use beeswax for waterproofing our products, and get it from Honey For Life.
