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A Japanese company created the thinnest paper in the world and it's used to preserve art at the Vatican and the Louvre — see how it's madehttps://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/a-japanese-company-created-the-thinnest-paper-in-the-world-and-itaposs-used-to-preserve-art-at-the-vatican-and-the-louvre-x2014-see-how-itaposs-made/slidelist/75628528.cms2020-05-08T19:19:55+05:30

A Japanese company created the thinnest paper in the world and it's used to preserve art at the Vatican and the Louvre — see how it's made

Mary MeisenzahlMay 8, 2020, 19:19 IST

The Louvre, the British Museum, and the Vatican are among Hidaka Washi's customers.

The material is used all over the world to restore documents, books, paintings and statues.

It can repair small damaged areas on historical documents, or be used to reinforce entire pages.

Because of this delicate size, Yale paper conservator Soyeon Choi called tenjugo "the bread and butter in paper conservation."

This makes it even thinner than human skin, an accomplishment no other factory has been able to replicate.

This thinnest paper is only 0.02 mm thick, the width of a single kozo fiber.

At this point, the final product is nearly transparent.

The thin fibers are rolled into sheets of paper for delivery.

It's essentially the same process that was once done by hand.

The papermaking machine rocks the material backing and forth, and the fibers become intertwined.

Once the mixture is thick enough, it can go to the papermaking machine.

Neri thickens the solution.

Then, fibers are combined in a solution using neri, liquid from the sunset hibiscus plant.

Next comes the time-consuming process of disentangling the kozo.

This stage takes place over several days, and requires five different workers at five different cleaning stations.

Hiroyoshi Chinzei is a fourth-generation tenjugo maker, and head of the company.

Though the process is now industrialized, workers still remove some impurities by hand.

This part of the process also removes any scratches the plants might have left on each other.

Then, steamed kozo plants go into a large water tank for another cleaning.

Cooking the plant removes materials that connect the fibers, leaving only what will be used in the final product.

Then, the kozo are steamed.

First, workers clean the kozo and remove any dirt or imperfections.

Kozo is bundled to prepare for the process.

Tenjugo paper is made from kozo, the stems of mulberry plants.

Historically, the paper has been used for sliding doors, lampshades, and room dividers.

The factory is located about 400 miles southwest of Tokyo.

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