The Transition of Washi Industry and Cultural Landscape Conservation in Gokayama, Toyama, Japan

Abstract

Gokayama Washi paper, traditional handmade paper, has a long success story spanning about 600 years in Gokayama, where world heritage historic villages are located. Washi’s raw materials are sourced and harvested from plants which are found in forests and cultivated in fields. As a local industry, Washi production relates to natural resource utilization and local residents’ livelihoods, as well as influencing the cultural landscape. This research aims to clarify the characteristics of cultural landscape as it relates to Washi industry’ transition and the status of Washi production, to discuss the efforts toward regional landscape conservation. Through mapwork and conducting a field survey, we found that land use dramatically changed since the late Meiji Era. This included fields of paper mulberry, the raw material for Washi production. These declined sharply in the middle Showa Era, yet we could still find preserved areas of traditional land use and spatial structure representative of the Meiji Era. The status of production changed from household production to community-based unions. With the revitalization of this industry, we found that there was a noticeable tendency for the output of Washi paper to increase. Part of the traditional cultivation and production process is preserved, which are important factors for cultural landscape conservation.