It is said that the imitation leather techniques started in 1694 in order to make tobacco pouches that could be carried into shrines. It was forbidden to carry leather into the Shinto shrines because they were places of worship for nature, which of course includes animals.

Whenever there are patterns or print involved, this work is done before the paper is creped.

What follows is a summary of the process:

The main tools involved are a large wooden lever (momi-dai, right) and form papers (katagami or kata). The form papers or matrixes are made with Kozo paper and are treated with a fermented persimon juice tannin. The kata are crushed mulitple times uni-directionaly resulting in a concertina-like paper that is very strong, water resistent and can be stretched and compressed.

When the sheets of paper I am going to crepe are placed between these kata, the whole is rolled tightly around a rod which is then inserted into a hole in the lever and compressed. Repeating the process while changing the orientation of the papers between the kata determines the final appearance of the chirimen-gami.There are many variations on the technique and the resulting textures are as varied as well.

I have written an article for Handpapermaking Magazine describing the technique and the history of Chirimen-gami. The thing I am most proud of in respect to chirimen-gami is that I am the only non-Japanese in history to have a working knowledge of the technique.There are only three total in the world still practicing the craft.