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LACQUEB-WABE AND PAPER. 457
leather. All attempts to imitate some of the Japanese papers have hitherto failed,
but for perfect whiteness the English and French products are superior, those of
Japan always showing a yellowish tinge.
The Kaji, or paper-tree, and the process of its conversion into paper are thus
described by Mossman. " From a strong-branched wood root rises a straight, thick,
equal trunk, very much branched out ;
covered with a fat, firm, clammy, chestnut-
coloured bark, rough without, but smooth on the inside, where it adheres to the
wood, which is loose and brittle, with a large, moist pith.
The branches and twigs
are very plump, and covered with a small down, or wool, of a green colour, in-
clining to purple. Every year, when the leaves have fallen off, in the tenth
Japanese month, which answers to our December, the twigs are cut into lengths,
not exceeding three feet, and put together in bundles, to be afterwards boiled in an
alkaline lye. These faggots are placed upright in a large kettle, which must be
well covered, and boiled until the bark shrinks so far as to allow about half an inch
of the wood to appear naked at the top. When they have been sufficiently boiled
they are taken out into the air to cool, after which the bark is stripped from the
wood, which forms the pulp for making the paper.
For this purpose it has to be
washed and cleansed, and this process is of no small consequence in producing
smooth, white paper.
" The washing takes place in a running stream, the bark being placed in a sort
of sieve, which lets the water run through, while it is stirred constantly with the
hands until it becomes a soft woolly pulp. Having been sufficiently washed, the
pulp is spread out upon a thick wooden table, and beaten with a wooden mallet
until it is reduced to the requisite fineness. Then it is put into a narrow tub with
a slimy infusion of rice, and of a root called Oreni.
" The moulds on which the paper is to be made are formed of the stems of bul-
rushes cut into narrow strips. The sheets are then lifted one by one from the
mould, and laid up in heaps upon a table covered with a double mat, and a small
plank or board placed on each heap. Weights are gradually piled up for a day,
after which the sheets are lifted off singly on the palm of the hand, and transferred
to a rough plank, on which they are placed, and afterwards dried in the sun. The
finest quality is of a white, smooth surface, although, as already remarked, never
quite approaching the pure white colour of the best European paper."
The Japanese are also our masters in wicker-work and in the preparation of
straw objects, of which they have a surprising variety, ranging from waterproof
cloaks to marionettes of all forms and sizes. The leather industry is represented
in several towns by some choice articles, but as a rule this material is very little
used in the industrial arts, owing to the contempt in which the tanner's trade is
held. Those engaged in the dressing of skins were formerly included in the
despised caste of the Etas. Amongst ,the noteworthy products of Japanese industry,
mention should be made of those " magic mirrors " whose dazzling brightness,
according to the legend, induced the inquisitive and jealous Sun-Goddess to emerge
from the cave to which she had withdrawn. The images projected by these
mirrors on walls, under the influence of heat and of the pencil of rays, are due to