Kyo Karakami is mainly used for sliding doors. Fusuma and wallpaper.

"To know" "To experience" "To enjoy"

You get a chance to experience the charm of Kyo Karakami.

We have hands-on workshops where you get to use authentic woodblocks and touch real Kyo Karakami, The gift shop where wooden stamps using the japanese tradditional motifs and various interior items and stationeries are available, on the second floor our craftsmen produce the Kyo Karakami in our printing studio.

By gathering everything in one place you can experience all aspects of Kyo Karakami all at once. Through revealing the previously hidden traditional techniques we hope to increase the popularity of Kyo Karakami.

Karakami , it is a beautifully crafted paper that came from Tang China during the Nara Period. At the time, high-society aristocrats regularly used Karakami to write letters and poems as it brought out the beauty in their writing. During the Heian Period, when production of Karakami started in Kyoto, It permeated aristocratic society and began to be used for (paper folding screens) in homes built in the shindenzukuri(palace) architectural style. With the passing centuries, it became popular with the nobles, samurai warriors, tea ceremony practitioners, and in the Edo Period, with commoner merchants.Karakami has been passed on to the present as a traditional craft for fusuma, wallpaper, and interior decoration. Kyo-Karakami is like a type of woodblock print, it uses printing blocks hand-carved on magnolia wood with traditional patterns passed down from ancient times. It is produced by a traditional method where coloring materials called kira(mica) and gofun(Chinese white) are added to its surface, and the design is copied with the plam of the hand while overlaying the design onto Japanese paper Washi. To this day, we continue to use woodblocks from the Tempo Era(1830-1844) and observe the patterns, coloring materials, tools, and old traditions.

We have a variety of workshops where you can enjoy Karakami, traditional crafts of Kyoto

Here at Karamaru, in addition to our experience courses we also have a shop where you can purchase the stationeries and wooden stamps with traditional Karakami motifs.
As well as the interior items such as art panels or lighting equipments.

※ It is not a duty free shop

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  View with google map

• ＜By bus＞
  Roughly 4 minutes walk from the “Karasuma matsubara” stop using a Kyoto City Bus

  ＜By train＞
  8 minutes walk from Karasuma subway line “Shijo station” Exit 5
  8 minutes walk from Hankyurailway Kyoto karasuma line “Karasuma station” Exit 15

  The parking lot for one car is available. Please contact us in advance.

Karamaru

Hours / 10:00〜17:30
Closed on Sunday, Wednesday, National holidays
Address/460 Senshoji-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-city, Japan 600-8076

TEL : +81 (0)75-361-1324
E-mail/karamaru@karamaru.kyoto

Contact us via e-mail here