Moenkopi Japanese Washi

I still fondly remember the time I was was posted to Tokyo some time during mid 2002. There was this stationery shop very close to my office at Ginza area. If you are the kind that loves the smell of fresh art papers and sharpened pencils, then this place would be absolute heaven for you. Like all things Japanese, everything you see there is made with so much care and detail. Perfection is everything. That was of course 5 years ago.

Moenkopi Japanese Washi
Moab Paper Company forged a partnership with Awagami Factory in Tokushima, Japan and produced a range of Japanese Washi fine art papers for photographic prints - they call them Moenkopi papers. I had a chance to test on 2 of their Moenkopi papers - the Urnyu 55 and Kozo 110.


Urnyu 55
At first glance, the Moenkopi Urnyu definitely looks and feel like those semi-translucent Japanese wrapping papers you'll see when you buy confectioneries from Japanese stores like Takashimaya and Mitsukoshi. Moab calls them "cloud dragon paper" due to its unique paper texture. At 55gsm, this is by far the thinnest fine art paper I've ever printed on. Here's a sample printout on an Epson Stylus Pro 4800 (matte black ink). Image was scanned on an Epson Perfection 4990 flatbed scanner at 72dpi.

From May & Meyer's wedding. Fullerton Hotel. October 2007

Kozo 110
The next paper I tested on was Moenkopi's kozo (mulberry) paper. At 110gsm, the Moenkopi Kozo is still considered thin for a fine art paper. The texture and the weight of the paper feels a lot like the kind of paper normally used for Chinese caligraphy and painting. Here a sample printout on an Epson Stylus Pro 4800 (matte black ink). Print was scanned using an Epson Perfection 4990 flatbed scanner at 72dpi.

From Tim & Charmaine's wedding. Conrad Centennial. September 2007.

In Conclusion
I was indeed very pleased when I first heard of Moab's partnership with Awagami Factory. I certainly wasn't disappointed when I received the sample papers from Moab and immediately went about making some prints. The Moenkopi Japanese Washi definitely adds a new dimension to fine art printing and gives me more options in terms of choices of fine art papers. As of now, no indications on the pricing yet. But if you would like to take a look at the sample prints, do give me a buzz. All you need to do is to buy me a cup of coffee. :)