Above: Factory entrance. Below: Factory interior.

Recognise that weave pattern? It’s the Airvase in the making!

Men at work on the printing press.

Left: Matt taking a closer look at the beautiful print finishes.

Cut before our eyes. Everything here is done inhouse.

Handsome machinery everywhere we turn.

The Kami-Megane knife.

Busy at work ensuring everything lines up perfectly.

The paper used to make Tapehooks.

Below right: Akiyoshi Yamada explaining how it all works.

For so long I’ve admired the paper creations produced by Kami No Kousakujo from Japan. Kami No Kousakujo is a collaborative project where designers and producers work together to create innovative products made of paper, you know, like the amazing Airvase, Kami-Megane, and the brilliant Broom Broom to name just a few.

On a recent trip to Tokyo we were invited to visit their factory; a place where paper comes to life! I was totally and completely in paper paradise I was! To be in the company of people who love paper as much as I do, and who have made it their life’s work was certainly an experience I’ll never forget. DREAM. COME. TRUE!

Akiyoshi Yamada and Shoko Yamada from Kami No Kousakujo make designers paper dreams come true. They gave us a tour of their factory and it was inspiring to see just how passionate they both are about this ongoing project. They showed us how Tapehooks are made (by wetting and curling tracing paper would you believe!), and even how the Airvases are cut (top secret stuff!). You’d be amazed at how much testing goes on in order to produce these products.

Kami No Kousakujo is all about experimenting and finding new and unusual ways to create with paper. And with many of Japan’s top creative minds involved, it’s not hard to see why this project continues to wow the world with brilliant paper products.

And yep we brought some back with us! There are six new products in the shop today and all of them were produced in this very factory. They are beautiful and brilliant and I’m so excited to have them in the shop. Enjoy! xo

**images © upon a fold **