Update: October 19, 2013
An update from my side of things. I am working on my batch of washi (handmade Japanese paper) so that SK can create textures with the scanned result. These textures will be used in the digital and poster versions, while the archival-printed version will be on large sheets of sized washi (so the ink doesn't bleed). I want people who receive the digital and poster versions to still have something special, which is why I am going through these lengths to provide an accurate and pleasing texture.
Below you will see two photographs (+1 image). The first one is of a process called chiri tori. We cooked the kozo bark with a wood-fired stove and rinsed the bark thoroughly. After that, we had to pick the little imperfections out of each strand of bark. This is the essence of chiri tori. For this map texture, I want something light-colored and without speckles, so all of the remnants of the outer layer of bark needed to be removed (so, brown bits being removed from the lighter, "purer" bits). Each strand of bark had to be run through the bucket of water, kept wet, and then purified. I used tweezers for the stubborn pieces, my fingers for the others. It's finally gotten a bit cold here in north Texas, so the water kept nice and cool (which is what you want to avoid bacterial growth).
The second photograph is the beating process. After I picked the bark of the imperfections, I began to beat it with a handmade wooden mallet (as shown). The photograph displays the beating process well-in. Before that, they were essentially the shape of stripped bark strands. The cooking made them softer and removed the decaying properties. For this paper, I have beaten the fiber for a few hours (with my mallet and my speed -- this can be done in a much shorter time in more well-equipped Japanese studios). I do not think I will beat it any more after this photograph was taken.
The image next to the photographs is our progress in documenting locations on this old map. Maiko and I have been swimming in pools of books and old maps, figuring out locations and specific roads. Sometimes the names on this old map have an added syllable or two, which we always look into. It was common during the Edo period for one location to be called something by the people living on one side of the road, and called something completely different from people living on the other side. Geographic features, like mountains, are usually obvious and easy, though we are attempting to give mountains and rivers their period-specific names, and not their modern names (most of them are the same, but some are not). We hope to get this old map completely deciphered by the end of the weekend.
- Nick
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