Introducing Antibacterial Washi Paper File Folders for the Times

When you think of Washi paper, thoughts of Japanese traditions immediately come to mind. However, simply because this form of paper-making has been around for so long, don’t let it confuse you about multiple innovations that are transforming the art.

One such breakthrough we’re proud to announce is our introduction of Washi paper with an antibacterial infusion. The process of creating the final product in this manner is exciting. First, we infuse a proprietary antibacterial ingredient directly into our standard manufacturing process.

This process increases effectiveness, and the paper performs better than directly spraying antibacterial catechin onto the paper’s surface, like most other manufacturers. Our method is superior because infused catechin always lasts much longer, maintaining its antibacterial qualities.

Get Ready for Innovative New Washi Products

Our first offering in the antibacterial Washi paper product line is the Washi file folder. File folders are ideal for dental or medical offices thanks to the antibacterial property, which significantly reduces the transmission of bacteria and contaminants. Add to that impressive feature the pure elegance of Washi paper, and you have a genuine industry-leading product designed to outlast competitor’s products.

The most popular file folders are typically plastic, which puts enormous stress on the environment. Worldwide plastic production is now 333.5 million tons, up three times since 1990. Companies dump 79% of that plastic waste illegally directly in oceans and landfills. Plastic file folders are extremely popular in Japan, so our new Washi paper file folders are the ideal solution for reducing this problem. Our file folders use Washi paper that’s approved by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Washi Paper for Sustainability

The Covid-19 pandemic is altering how people live and do business. Hygiene is of the utmost concern in offices, schools, and clinics. Washi paper folders are aesthetically pleasing and help protect against the spread of germs and contaminants.

If you haven’t already, now is an excellent time to consider the benefits of using FSC-approved Washi paper made file folders in your environment.

Antibacterial agents get added during the manufacturing process, instead of applying it to the surface later. That makes the antibacterial properties useful for years.

Print Ready For All Your Needs

Edofiber antibacterial file folders are suitable for printing at home on standard printers. We have corner-rounded designs available for those who prefer that format and for use at facilities with infants.

Now, more than ever, people have genuine concerns about spreading viruses. Alleviate their fears with antibacterial Washi paper file folders that are beautiful, durable, and have germ-fighting properties. Edofiber remains committed to being the world’s leader in sustainable Washi products, and our file folders continue that tradition.

Get More for the Same Price

We’ve worked extra hard to keep our prices affordable for our product, even though it requires extra steps during production. We use a customized machine that automates the entire production process, including cutting the folders at the end. Our machinery investment has allowed us to keep prices at the same point as the ordinary paper file folders.

Whether you need a couple of hundred units or thousands of antibacterial file folders, we’re here to deliver!

Contact us to ask for more information on this groundbreaking new product that keeps your establishment healthier and safer.

Washi Paper Manufacturing

Washi paper is simultaneously a traditional Japanese cultural heritage and one of the best modern paper solutions for a wide range of commercial printing needs today. How is this possible? The answer has everything to do with the materials and the manufacturing process.

Traditional Manufacturing

For centuries, since about 610 CE, Washi paper was made by hand through a traditional process that incorporated textile-like aspects.

As a result, Washi paper that has entered history as a priceless Japanese cultural heritage, renowned for its luxurious textures and for its beauty and strength. As beautiful and remarkable as Washi paper is, though, the process of manufacturing it was labor-intensive and could not keep up with supplying a modern mass market.

Given this, a number of companies sought an alternative. They wanted a modern process that would capture the beauty, the strength, and the wonderful textures of Washi paper while also being economical enough for production and consumption on the world market.

Successful Mass Production

One of these companies was Edofiber’s own parent company, Nagai Paper Store. Through much effort, Nagai developed a way to successfully mass-produce Washi paper which managed to combine the beauty, strength, and unique textures of traditional Washi paper with the efficiency of modern production methods.

The result is a line of Washi paper products which collectively exist in a sort of harmonious fusion between the past and the present. They are at the same time a testament to the enduring legacy of the past, the Washi paper that was originally introduced by Buddhist monks in the 7^th century, and the present, being an effective, economical, and beautiful solution to everything from digital printing to office stationery to gift boxes and so much more.

Washi paper can solve a wide range of office needs. However, it is a good idea to partner with an expert in Washi paper production. Here, Edofiber is unequaled: we won the coveted Yokozuna Award for best-quality Tesuki Hosyo Washi paper. We have the best Washi paper on the market.

Also, thanks to our parent company Nagai Paper Store, we have relationships of long standing with the three remaining Washi manufacturers still active on the island of Shikoku.

Thanks to these relationships, we are very effective at delivering a wide range of Washi paper solutions, including customized products. We know how to efficiently communicate customer needs for even very small-run projects.

There are also very different kinds of Washi for very different projects and needs.

Types of Washi Paper

Traditionally, Washi paper is manufactured using kozo and mitsumata and the wild gampi, but these three plants produce three quite different types of Washi.

In each case, the manufacturing process is much the same. All three plants are woody shrubs, and in each case the process starts with steaming the branches to make it easier to strip off the bark.

The bark has the fibers that become the basis for the Washi paper itself, and the characteristics of the bark fibers therefore determine the characteristics of the Washi.

Kozo Washi, for example, is the most common type of Washi paper. People who know Washi generally regard it as the ‘typical’ Washi paper, and it is in some sense representative of what Washi generally is supposed to be: strong, durable, and possessed of wonderfully luxurious textures with a great ability to absorb ink, making for crisper, fuller text and colors.

Mitsumata Washi is much more delicate and elastic. If you are looking for Washi for a calligraphic project or for printing paper, this is easily your best bet. It is glossy and absolutely beautiful.

Gampi Washi is made from the wild gampi plant. It is especially good at taking colors from dyes and from infusions, and this lends it to use for envelopes, stationery, postcards, business cards, and colored papers.

These three types of Washi paper cover many different printing uses. Let us examine a few of the options for printing with Washi paper.

Washi Paper Printing Options

Edofiber has many printing solutions for Washi. The different solutions cover very different needs.

Letterpress printing, for example, is an Edofiber specialty. The result is high-quality printing that looks like an old-style woodcut printing job. Woodcuts were literally made by carving a block of wood to provide the printing design, and it is these exquisite results that letterpress printing recaptures.

Some printing jobs require high-definition offset printing. This is another thing Edofiber can do with Washi paper. Thin paper printing is another option, one which is complex and tricky with any paper but especially so with Washi.

Some printing jobs call for seals – think of the seals on official documents, i.e. university diplomas, awards, certain company letterhead, and more.

This too is a very practical application for Washi paper, both because of its strength and because it is highly absorbent of ink. Seal printing is of especially high quality when it is done on Washi paper.

Lamination is another option with Washi. In some cases you may need a Washi paper product that is water-resistant. Here it is interesting to note that Washi has historically been famous for its water resistance: during the Edo period (1603-1867), merchants in Osaka used Washi paper account books because, in the event of a fire, they could be thrown into wells to protect them from the flames.

Today we can do much more: including thermal-welding polyethylene or other materials over a Washi product to make it more water-resistant.

Edofiber is Your Source for Washi Paper

Edofiber is a worldwide distributor of Washi paper, and we are always looking for new partnerships to expand our business.

Thanks to our innovative manufacturing processes and high-quality ingredients, our Washi paper is of the highest quality.

We offer a wide range of very high-quality Washi paper products which can serve a wide variety of commercial printing solutions. With different raw materials and different processes, we have produced many different Washi papers for many different purposes. We also have a variety of printing options to suit your needs.

To further explore the advantages of our Washi paper, please contact Edofiber for samples and business terms.

Washi Paper Production: 100 Years of Expertise

Edofiber is a peerless source of Washi paper, a beautiful traditional Japanese paper which can be used for a wide variety of modern applications.

No other company has access to Washi of such high quality as Edofiber, Washi which is optimal for modern digital printing and a host of other applications, not to mention innovative custom solutions.

At the same time, Edofiber can supply the needs of the modern mass market, and we are constantly looking for new partners to help us bring Washi paper products to consumer markets in the Western world.

Edofiber’s Select Washi Suppliers

Today there are three Washi manufacturers remaining on Japan’s Shikoku Island, and Edofiber has close relationships with all three.

Between them, these manufacturers produce some of the finest Washi paper in existence. The Washi paper Edofiber sources won the coveted Yokozuna Award for best-quality Tesuki Hosyo.

Edofiber’s close relationships with these suppliers have profound consequences for our ability to produce innovative solutions. Because we are so close to our suppliers, we can work closely with them to provide custom solutions, even in small-run quantities.

Working with providers of top-quality Yoshino Sugi (cedar), we invented Washi paper file folders that used Yoshino Sugi cedar chips. Yoshino, in Nara Prefecture, has been renowned as a source of top-quality cedar since the 12^th century.

The success of this product has helped to promote the use of the Yoshino Cedar in common consumer products.

And working with Sugino Washi Paper Factory in Saijo, Ehime, we created a package insert leaflet for an international cosmetic brand, promoting the beauty of Washi paper among many different countries outside of Japan.

Production of Washi Paper

There are 22 steps in the traditional process of producing Washi paper. The first step is to cultivate the raw materials kozo and mitsumata, both woody shrubs, and to gather the third raw material, the wild-growing gampi.

The materials are typically harvested from December to January, following which they are steamed to facilitate the stripping of the bark. The bark is scraped, washed, boiled with alkali, steamed again, beaten to loosen the fibers, and then made into sheets of Washi.

Other steps including entwining the fibers to make layers, pressing out excess water, brushing, drying, and selection. The result is a paper unlike any other: beautiful, with luxurious textures, and superb absorptive abilities for high-quality printing jobs.

Types of Washi Paper

The three main fibers used in Washi paper are kozo, mitsumata, and gampi, and each is associated with its own style of Washi paper. The fibers are similar enough in terms of their general properties, but each still has sufficient differences to be distinct in its own right.

Kozo Washi is the majority of Washi paper today. It is strong, durable, and has the luxurious textures and absorbent qualities that embody everything that makes Washi interesting and unique. Notably, it retains strength even when folded or crumpled.

Mitsumata Washi is much more delicate and elastic than Kozo Washi. It has a glossy look, and is soft and flexible to the touch. It is excellent for calligraphy and for printing paper, particularly modern digital printing.

Gampi paper is notable for its ability to take dyes and infused color. It is particularly optimal for envelopes, stationery, postcards, business cards, and colored papers.

All three types of Washi have much to recommend them, particularly with regard to their absorptive qualities.

Because printing requires paper to absorb the ink in order to display text and images, Washi’s superb absorptive abilities make for especially vibrant, beautiful colors when it is used to print images, and crisp, well-defined text.

Processing Washi Paper

Edofiber has mastered the art of processing Washi paper in a variety of ways, for numerous applications.

For example, Edofiber’s Washi paper is ideal for watermarking. A watermark is a pattern that stands out when held against the light. Watermarks are produced by subtle techniques, which selectively thin the paper to form a distinctive pattern, such as those seen on diplomas and certificates.

Edge dying is another Edofiber specialty. Using our Fuchizome technique, we dye the rim of the paper in a way that produces a unique texture, utterly unlike anything possible with printing.

Foil stamping is another process for which our Washi is ideal. This is a way of printing foil by thermal transfer. This process can make use of gold and silver, and there are also monochrome and hologram options.

Washi can also be turned into elegant and beautiful boxes, perfect for gifting. We can also use punching die to produce original and custom shapes.

Another option is embossment, which produces a pattern on paper without any ink at all.

Printing on Washi Paper

Edofiber’s printing solutions are varied and address a wide variety of needs. Whatever your need, we can print Washi paper that will supply it.

Letterpress printing is a method we have expertise in. It produces high-quality printing that is reminiscent of prints produced with woodcut plates.

Washi is also perfect for very high-definition offset printing. We can also do thin paper printing, which is technically complex and very tricky. Edofiber has decades of experience in thin-paper printing.

We can also do seal printing, either on rolled paper with the seals cut out, or special paper that has been treated with adhesive.

Finally, we can laminate Washi, thermal-welding a material such as polyethylene over the Washi to make it more water-resistant.

Edofiber’s Washi Production & Distribution

We specialize in the production of Washi paper for commercial printing and production, but we also produce and distribute a wide variety of custom Washi products for a wide variety of needs.

Our products include Washi office supplies, postcards, and restaurant food and packaging supplies. Whether you are in need of innovative paper solutions for the office or for creative processes, we can meet your Washi paper needs.

It is our mission to promote Washi paper for daily use in the West, since Washi has so many unique strengths compared with mass market Western paper: resistant to humidity, long-lasting, takes colors and text better, less prone to pest damage, and generally more luxuriant and interesting to the touch.

To learn more about our Washi paper solutions, contact Edofiber for samples and business terms.

Washi Paper Distributor: Edofiber

Edofiber is a top-rated distributor of Washi papers, a traditional Japanese style of paper that also excels in modern printing applications.

Because of the raw materials used to make Washi paper and the process by which it is manufactured, the finished product is much stronger than conventional paper, as well as being more absorbent and thus able to produce a more beautiful printed result.

Washi is the paper of choice for any printing job that would benefit from more vivid, attractive colors, not to mention crisper images and texts.

With its long-standing connections to the best Washi manufacturers as well as its own status as an award-winning manufacturer, Edofiber is uniquely well-positioned to supply partners in the Western world with this remarkable Japanese paper.

History of Washi Manufacturing

Traditionally known as Tesuki Washi, handmade Japanese paper, Washi is made from the cultivated woody plants kozo and mitsumata and the wild gampi. Because of these materials, Washi paper is tougher, more absorbent, and longer-lasting than ordinary wood-pulp-based paper.

By the time of the Edo period (1603-1867), one form of Washi was popular among Osaka merchants, who used it for their account books. Washi paper account books had a remarkable advantage: whenever a fire broke out, the merchants could throw their books into a well to protect them, since the Washi paper was highly resistant to water damage.

Hand-made Washi is too labor-intensive to be economical, so a number of manufacturers took up the task of creating a modern, mechanized production. Among them was Edofiber’s parent company, Nagai Paper Store.

Nagai Paper Store and the other early pioneers started manufacturing in the city of Kuniyas, now called Saijo City, in the Ehime Prefecture on the Japanese island of Shikoku.

The city is situated in a flat valley located between two mountains, Mount Ishizuchi and Mount Takanawa. This location proved ideal for efficiently obtaining labor, raw materials, and then drying and finally shipping out the finished Washi.

Denzaemon Nagai is the founder of our parent company, Nagai Paper Corporation, and was born in 1899 in Kuniyasu, Ehime. He bacame a Tesuki Washi craftsman in 1916 and went on a sales trip to sell Tesuki Washi paper crafted on his own across the western parts of Japan. This became the foundation of the Nagai corporation’s current business and is part of our century-long heritage.

Award-Winning Manufacturer & Distributor

Washi manufacturing flourished here, peaking in 1951 with 50 different Washi manufacturers. Over time, consolidation and going out of business reduced the number of these manufacturers to three, and Edofiber has connections with all of them.

Edofiber has longstanding relationships with these three remaining Washi manufacturers, thanks to our parent company Nagai. Sugino Washi Paper Factory is one of the three remaining Washi factories. The followings are the process of Tesuki Washi paper making at Sugino Washi Paper factory.

Putting all the materials in water to loosen them and form it into a sheet. While gently rocking back and fourth by hand, making the sheet flat even and transparent . This activity is called “Tesuki.”

After “Tesuking,” they compile a hundred of the single Tesuki sheets and put weight on the pile to compress them. After that, craftsmen peel off each sheet from the other to separate them and dry them naturally in the open air.

In 1955, Edofiber and our parent company were responsible for innovating a modern, mechanized process of Washi production which embodied all of the quality and beauty of traditional hand-made Tesuki Washi while being economical for the international mass market.

It is this fusion of the high quality of the traditional Tesuki hand-crafted Washi paper and the efficiency of modern mechanization.

Edofiber first produced and sold Washi paper chopstick covers for the mass market in 1959. Numerous other products followed: paper for printing, stationery, office supplies, packaging materials, and more.

Today Edofiber is ranked as one of the finest Tesuki Washi manufacturers, having won the coveted Yokozuna Award as the best quality Tesuki Hosyo.

Drawing on our century of expertise, we produce high-quality, beautiful Washi paper that is versatile, stronger than conventional paper, and also able to produce more attractive results than typical, ordinary paper. We are proud of our Washi and the many uses to which it can be put.

Washi: A Versatile Paper

Thanks to the materials used to make Washi and the processes of manufacturing, the finished product is not only stronger but also more beautiful, and with much more desirable textures. This lends it to a variety of uses.

Washi has long been used for artworks and for interior decoration. Today Edofiber and our suppliers produce Washi paper which is optimal for use in letterpress printing, high-definition offset printing, seal printing, digital printing and laminated paper.

Common Washi products include packaging materials, such as boxes, tissue paper, wrapping paper, office supplies, letter and envelope stationery, tissue paper, and wrapping paper.

Digital printing is one of the most promising applications of our Washi paper. The resulting print jobs show high-resolution, high-clarity printed texts and images.

Washi texture is softer and more luxurious than most people are used to experiencing with paper. The surface of a sheet of Washi paper is much more tactilely interesting than a regular sheet of paper, as well as being more attractive and more durable.

The greater absorbency of Washi paper is a key part of what makes it so interesting and effective. After all, paper of any kind has to absorb ink if it is to display printed text and/or images.

Because Washi is more absorbent, it is better at taking in the ink, and that means more vibrant colors and clearer text.

Washi Paper Distribution Opportunities

Edofiber now distributes Washi paper worldwide and is actively seeking to expand its business partnerships in the Western world.

Our digital printing Washi paper is of the highest quality, and performs with excellence on printers, copiers, and commercial digital printing presses. Whatever your printing needs, we can serve as your source for traditional Japanese Washi paper.

We also offer distinct Washi specialty papers for packaging, perfect for wrapping gifts or other packages, as well as stationery and craft supplies. Our custom solutions can cover any special need.

All of our Washi products combine beauty and elegance with unrivaled performance. Every Washi product we sell combines the traditional Washi strength and durability with interesting, luxurious textures and outstanding printing possibilities.

Our expertise is grounded in a century of history manufacturing Washi, and over half a century of modern mechanized production that retains harmony and continuity with the traditional Washi craft.

We have the ability to mass-produce numerous Washi products for the world market, including the United States and the United Kingdom, and we are constantly looking for new partners.

Whatever your printing needs, we are ready, willing, and able to consult with you in order to find a Washi paper solution. You deserve the best in Washi paper solutions, from paper for digital printing to custom badges, file folders, portfolios, table mats, napkins, cups, and many more.

To explore the advantages of Washi paper in products ranging from office supplies to commercial printing, contact Edofiber for samples and business terms.