PAPER INDUSTRY 



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is made. It is almost as strong as Broussonetia paper, but does not 

 possess its fineness and evenness, and therefore is not as suitable 

 when these qualities are especially necessary. It affords, however, 

 a very fine packing material.^ 



5. Ap/iananthe aspera, Planch {Hoinoiceltis aspera^ Bl., Prumis 

 aspera, Thunb.), Fam. Ulmacese. The Japanese call this plant 

 (tree and bush) Muku or Muku-no-ki (see p. 246). The rough 

 leaves of this woody growth serve the carpenter for polishing pur- 

 poses, like shave grass. The bark is peeled off in the woods during 

 the summer months and carried in bundles to the paper makers. 

 Only the young, bush-like plants are used for this purpose. The 

 skin of this bark is dark-brown, the fibres rough. It is found and 

 worked up only in the southern parts of the country, eg., in the 

 provinces Bungo and lyo, and mixed with Broussonetia fibres 

 for cheap papers. I met collectors of Muku bark only twice in 

 my travels. On the boundary of Hiuga and Bungo it is called 

 Mukubi. 



Those kinds of bark which, besides those already named, are 

 said to be employed here and there in paper-making (I myself, have 

 nowhere seen them used), have been already mentioned above. It 

 is said that in Chikuzen young bamboo-cane is chopped up and 

 mixed with the pulp of Kodzo. Straw admixtures, chopped fine,' 

 yield only inferior wares, as purely straw paper is far less valuable 

 than bark paper. 



H6-gu, or H6-gu-gami, i.e. used paper, and its repeated working 

 up into inferior, but nevertheless strong paper, called Suki-gae-shi, 

 deserves mention. Just as with us, poor people in Japan and 

 China also, seek through the streets and rubbish heaps for bones, 

 old iron, and rags, and even old paper. Paper printed or written 

 on, or soiled in any way and thrown aside, is collected, cleansed as 

 far as possible, sorted and transformed anew into paper pulp. The 

 Suki-gae-shi thus made is used for packing paper, cleansing pur- 

 poses, and pasteboard. Its value in proportion to the original bark 

 paper is about the same as that of a dress made from old rags 

 or worn garments ripped up and turned is to a new one. 



About fifteen years ago, the Japanese began to collect cotton 

 and linen rags and to manufacture machine paper after European 

 methods. The necessary machines have been imported from Europe, 

 also the directors of the factories, of which there are already a 

 dozen. Such a one was first established in the vicinity of Kioto, 

 and another at Oji near Tokio. Attempts to put paper made 

 in these mills on the European market were thwarted by the 

 prices. A further discussion of these is not to our purpose here, 

 as the factories were established generally by government help, 



^ The Vienna Exhibition of 1873, contained paper samples of Zahony from 

 Podgora near Gorz, which showed that in Europe also, in the districts of silk 

 culture, where the bark of the white mulberry is very cheap and easy to obtain, 

 they have tried it in paper industry. 



