Tōzan Washi making started at the end of the 12th century by order of the Fujiwara clan who had strong govern in this area. The word “Tōzan” means “East Mountain”, there is the same name (Higashi-Yama) place also in Kyoto. They wanted to build a city like Kyoto here, so they used the same name for this area. After they lost the war against Genji in 1189, Washi making had been continued through the centuries by villagers.
They cultivate Kozo and Mitsumata for their paper. This north part of Japan is very cold, eventually, the quality of their material is quite high. To remain this historic culture, some of the young villagers started training and recently got official guarantee by master artisans. We hope they will continue to make Washi in future.