There were almost 500 paper-makers alongside Ida River in Yatsuo town 100 years ago. This province “Ecchu” was famous as medicine production. The Ecchu-washi was grown with medicine business, like wrapping paper and bags for the powder and tablets.
After WW2, the living national treasure of cloth-dyeing artisan, Mr Serizawa Keisuke (芹澤銈介), started dyeing on papers with Keijusha, instead of clothes, because of its lack. Today, they are making more than 250 beautiful patterned papers. This is one of the representatives of the Japanese folk-art.