Okinawa is the largest of roughly 300 islands that make up the Ryu–kyu– Arc. These islands, situated in the western Pacific Ocean at the eastern edge of the East China Sea, were once a prosperous, independent kingdom, well placed for trade and commerce. However, their strategic proximity to China and Japan has made them vulnerable to the more powerful countries' interests. In 1879 the islands were annexed by Japan after the Meiji Government abolished royal rule.1 Papermaking was introduced in Okinawa around 1694 in Kinjo, a village in Shuri, when the royal government granted a plot of land to an official named O – mitake Hyo–bu. Before his arrival in Kinjo, O – mitake learned to make sugiharashi paper in Satsuma, a province on the Japanese island of Kyu–shu–. Production of genuine Okinawan paper made from basho– (Japanese plantain, Musa basjoo Sieb.) was established in 1717.2 A plaque near the spring notes that a kozo papermaking facility was located in the area from 1840 and continued until World War II when the Battle of Okinawa resulted in over 150,000 civilian deaths and leveled the city of Naha and the Shuri castle.3 Agena Kiyoshi is second in the lineage of papermakers who have been responsible for the reintroduction of the craft encouraged by Abe Eishiro–. Abe (1902–1984), a national treasure papermaker from Shimane prefecture on the main island of Honshu–, Japan, took much interest in the revival of cultural traditions in Ryu–kyu–. In 1976 Katsu Takahiko, Abe's apprentice, came to the Ryu–kyu– Islands with Yanagibashi Makoto from Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs to conduct research on aogampi (Wikstroemia retusa) grown on Iriomote island.4 With Abe's assistance, Katsu mastered the techniques, moved his family to a village near Shuri, and occupied himself with the revival of papermaking from another indigenous fiber, basho–, made from the bast fiber discarded Agena Kiyoshi draws water for papermaking from the Takaraguchi Spring, near Shuri Castle, Naha, Okinawa, Japan. All photos by and courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted. Map showing location of Shuri, Naha on Okinawa Island. Drawn by the author. summer 2009 - 9 including cochineal, he is conscientious about using indigenous plant dyes and achieves an amazing range of color from them. Samples of all the plants he uses grow in pots around his house. He uses the root of getto–, Okinawan ginger (Alpinia speciosa) to create a pale pink. Dye from the fukugi tree (Garcinia subelliptica), historically planted in front of traditional-style houses to protect them from typhoons, renders a pale green. The dye comes from the bark of the tree, which Agena harvests locally. Alum is the mordant. Even the fukugi leaves are used to "paint" the moist washi on sanded drying boards to pick up the wood grain texture. During my time in Naha I visited the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts (OPUA) which strives to integrate traditional crafts with commerce. Agena teaches there one term a year. I toured the papermaking facilities where his students learn traditional sheet formation and enjoy experimenting with their own methods and materials. At OPUA I was introduced to Wauke Choken, also a professor, who designed the Peace Memorial Park on the southern tip of the island. It commemorates the great loss of life and disruption of culture during and after the Battle of Okinawa. Contemporary writing on Okinawan culture is illuminating in its discussion of post–World War II issues such as the Reversion, peace organizations, and the presence of the US military in the region.6 In fact, the disruption of culture is such a large part of Ryukyuan history that it was impressive to view firsthand how the arts of the region are thriving.7 I traveled to Okinawa in order to interview the members of a women's cooperative that uses sugar cane to dye textiles. I was familiar with a practice that uses basho– for woven kimono but was surprised to find a publication from the prefectural office that mentioned basho– used for paper. Two lovely women who staff the office of tourism in Naha made a few phone inquiries, during the process of weaving cloth. Katsu died in 1987 at the age of forty, but Agena, now 54 years old, has masterfully continued the tradition. He sells from his atelier and the shop located in the Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum. Agena showed me his strong forearms. He makes washi from basho– during winter. He cooks two kilos at a time, processing one kilo for immediate use, and refrigerating the other for a later time. From one kilo Agena can make about fifty sheets depending on the thickness. His sheets are perfectly uniform and crisp. He does not clean the basho– fiber, as the flecks of brown are not bark, but part of the interior of the plantain. He beats it for three days with two wooden mallets inscribed with a radiating groove pattern. For sheetforming, Agena orders sugeta (Japanese papermaking moulds) from Kochi prefecture. He uses a common house jack for the gradual pressing of the sheets. The entire process from fiber to paper takes about two weeks. In the summer Agena uses mitsumata from Kochi Prefecture and kozo, often laced with Okinawan seaweed. Processing of mitsumata or kozo takes a week. According to Agena, approximately ninety people are still employed to make mitsumata pulp for Japanese currency. Agena also works with aogampi which has a bluish cast and a rough texture. Aogampi is now a protected plant on Okinawa, so Agena obtains the fiber from Ishigaki, an island west of Okinawa. The availability of the fiber is due in part to the efforts of Hirayama Akira, a medical doctor who retired in 1990 and became very interested in the resurgence of Okinawan gampi. He was instrumental in the development of a papermaking laboratory on Ishigaki. According to Hirayama the aogampi genus has fifty species in Southeastern Asia, Australia, and Polynesia. He shares a very interesting story and much information about gampi and aogampi on his website.5 Although Agena uses natural dyes from many sources photocopied a map, and sent me on my way to an unforgettable meeting with an artist of great skill and integrity and a keystone in the continuation of an important tradition. The author wishes to express heartfelt thanks to Agena Kiyoshi for sharing his work, and to Daniel Lopez—graduate student at OPUA and author of Facades of Okinawa, 77 Walls and One Wheelbarrow—who translated during the author's visit to the atelier, and facilitated the translation, via email, of additional questions during the preparation of this article. Agena Kiyoshi may be contacted at Shoshian, Tesuki Ryukyushi Ko–bo–, 4-89 Gibo Shuri, Naha City, Okinawa, 903-0821 Japan. ___________ notes 1. Okinawan Crafts, Okinawa Prefectural Government Craft Promotion Center, ed., (Naha: Okinawa Joho Co., Ltd. 1997), 5. 2. Ibid., 114. 3. Tony Barrell and Rick Tanaka, Okinawa Dreams OK (Strawberry Hills, Australia: Private Guy International, 1997), 78. 4. Okinawan Crafts, 115. 5. Akira Hirayama, from the Yaeyama Aoganpi-Washi Laboratory website, http ://ganpishi.org/en/ (accessed October 6, 2008). 6. For a contemporary examination of Okinawan culture, see interviews conducted by Australian journalists Barrell and Tanaka in Okinawan Dreams OK. 7. There is a fine summary of Okinawan cultural and craft history from ancient times through the twentieth century in Craft Treasures of Okinawa: the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto by Michiaki Kawakita, et. al., translated and adapted by Erika Kaneko (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1978). Unfortunately, Okinawan papermaking was excluded from this catalog. Also see a detailed overview of Okinawan culture on the Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum website: http://www.museums.pref.okinawa.jp/english/museum/index.html (accessed October 13, 2008). Agena Kiyoshi drying paper on wooden boards. After he brushes the paper onto the board with a wide natural-bristle brush, he smoothes the entire sheet with a fukugi leaf to enhance the wood grain texture on the paper. Note the two fukugi leaves at lower right, resting next to the pressed post of paper. Photo by and courtesy of Daniel Lopez. summer 2009 - 11 Technical Specifications This sample, made by Agena Kiyoshi at his studio in Naha, Okinawa, comes from a sheet of paper made of 100% aogampi fiber. The original sheet size is 39 x 101 cm (15.4 x 38.8 inches). The fiber is grown on Ishigaki, an island near Okinawa. Agena cooked the fiber in soda ash, then hand beat the fiber into pulp. He dyed the pulp in a vat with the bark of the fukugi tree, using alum as a mordant. After forming and pressing, Agena brushed the sheets on wooden boards, then carefully smoothed the entire sheet using a fukugi leaf to firmly attach the paper onto the boards.