I had a chance to go to the town famous for washi; hand made Japanese paper, while I was in Japan last April. Ogawamachi has been making washi made of kouzo tree for past 1300 years. I bought bunch of natural colored papers priced from .50 cents to $6, and my little sister got nice note books with decorated covers. Washi papers are also sold in printed versions, which have nice kimono like patterns. These are used in craft making, and other decoration purposes.
They do have demonstration of washi making, using traditional methods thruough out the day, but we went down there just before closing time. So we drove off to near by "Onsen" hot spring, and had relaxing 3 hr bathe. The "Onsen" will rent everything you need to bathe, including "yukata" kimono like clothe, but made of cotton. You ware this yukata after bathe, so you won't sweat your clothe. You can lay down in the resting room, or go to restaurant or bar located within the complex.
I had really nice vacation down there, and got some inspiration for my next projects.
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