Kansai's handmade washi villages NARA Yoshino tesuki-washi Original graduation certificates made from washi by elementary school students Economic and Tourism Division Yoshino Town Town Office Address: 80-1 Oaza Kamiichi, Yoshino Town, Yoshino-gun, Nara Prefecture TEL:07463-2-3081 In Yoshino Town, Nara Prefecture, the home of traditional Yoshino handmade washi, graduating students at three of the town's six elementary schools make their own graduation certificates from Yoshino washi. Now in its 18th year, this custom was started by Ryumon Elementary School in 1980. Under the guidance of FUKUNISHI Hiroyuki, whose expertise in the preservation of Yamato-udagami washi techniques has resulted in his being designated a living national treasure by the Japanese government, and with the cooperation of HONSAKO Hironori, owner of a bookstore, the young "apprentices" manage the entire process by themselves, from cultivating paper mulberry trees to making the paper and patterning it with grain. They make their own tools as well. The process includes the watermarking of their school emblem and the dyeing of the paper in light purple, the color of wisteria flowers and the school's official color, using locally produced "bishako" fruits. In patterning the paper, students imprint a grain pattern of their choice onto their certificates. These original graduation certificates thus become truly personal mementos for the graduates to treasure for the rest of their lives. All images Copyright. 1997 Kansai International Public Relations Promotion Office. All Rights Reserved.