09/13/2026
Ms. Jacobi found the magic of washi in 1975 when she was in Japan as an English teacher. As she stated later, she found washi being much more than a flat surface to be printed or drawn upon. Malleable, translucent, absorbent, soft yet incredibly strong, these sheets called washi, she stated, combine the sensuality of textile with the practical elegance of the fine papers of old. For us to call them 'paper' at all is to miss their incredible potential in the hands of artists, she said.
After she founded The Japanese Paper Place in 1982, she has gone beyond the scope of her commercial business to actively share the appeal of washi through lectures and workshops. Notably, in 2008, she organized the "World Washi Summit" in Toronto in collaboration with the Japan Foundation Toronto.
In modern Japan, washi—as a traditional craft—faces a decline due to shrinking demand and a shortage of successors, putting its very survival at risk. Conversely, overseas markets increasingly value washi for its status as a traditional craft and its properties as a sustainable material, driving growing demand in sectors such as art, fashion, and interior design. The individual's efforts contribute to both rising international demand and expanded supply, thereby indirectly supporting the preservation and survival of valued Japan's washi industry.
That is exactly The Japanese Paper Place has done and continues to do. Early next month, it will invite master papermakers of the celebrated Osaki Family from Kochi Prefecture, Japan. When The Japanese Paper Place invited the family to visit Canada for the first time twenty-three years ago, Ms. Osaki Akari was still a teenager. Travelling with her grandfather and mother, both papermakers, she saw for the first time how far her family’s paper had travelled and how passionately it had become embraced by Canadian artists. That journey helped shape her decision to continue the family tradition and become a papermaker herself. Now she is the fourth-generation head of the Osaki Paper Mill and the sole artisan preserving the techniques for Tosa Seicho-shi —a type of traditional Tosa washi which is designated as a National Intangible Cultural Property.
During her time in Japan, Ms. Jacobi saw something extraordinary in washi— she recognized its true value and its boundless potential. Since then, she has dedicated her life to sharing that magic, expanding a circle of passion that now reaches far beyond the borders of Toronto, Ontario, and even Canada. Today, these artists and artisans, printmakers and bookbinders, conservators, wholesalers, and retailers form together a vibrant ecosystem fueled by a shared love for washi!
Thank you so much, Ms. Jacobi.
CG Matsunaga
