Echizen Washi Village [越前和紙の里]

Echizen Washi Village ("Echizen Washi no Sato" in Japanese") is at the foot of the mountain in Echizen city.
It is located about 7 km east of JR Takefu station and about 17 km south of the center of Fukui city.

Washi is traditional Japanese paper.

It is made of the fibers in the wood of Kozo (Paper mulberry), Mitsumata (Oriental paperbush), Ganpi (Diplomorpha sikokiana), etc.

The fiber is far longer than pulp for standard paper, so Washi has strong tensility and doesn't deteriorate in quality for a long time.

But Washi is besically produced by hand.
So it has low production and the price is expensive.

It is estimated that the production of paper in Japan started around the 5th century and the production in this area started in the early 6th century.

In Fukui Prefecture, five villages in Echizen city are the production center.
The paper producing in the villages is called Echizen Washi.
This area has the largest production of Washi in Japan.

Echizen Washi Village is in the center of the area introducing Echizen Washi, and there are the museum, a workshop by the craftsmen (Udatsu Paper & Craft Museum), and an experience facility to make the paper (Papyrus House).

These facilities are placed along a main street about 230 meters long. You can see and know Echizen Washi in the facility.

And the southeastern area is also the villages of Washi, and you can see the old town with Washi workshops.

Echizen Washi Village

How to get here

By Hokuriku Shinkansen, get off at Echizen-Takefu station.
About 8 minutes from Fukui, about 1 hour and 50 to 60 minutes from Kanazawa.
Then by route bus, about 30 minutes from Echizen-Takefu station.

Other Tourist Attractions in Fukui Prefecture

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