Etegami Papers

These are the papers that I bought from jetpens.com last fall for use in Etegami (Japanese postcard paintings). They are postcard size (Japanese postcard size, which is a good size). They vary in the amount of "bleed" (nijimi) they have. Thanks to Dosanko Debbie for an explanation of the difference between absorbency and bleed! They were called Akashiya postcard size paper at Jetpens, which meant I didn't find them until just before they stopped selling them, because I was searching for "etegami". The ones I bought were AO-35L, AO-40L, and AO-50L (highest nijimi). They also carried AO-30L, the least nijimi. More bleed is preferable to many who have managed to practice enough to deal with the water. Heh. Mottoes from my Chinese brush painting days: Water is like a good friend you can't trust. Be brave but be careful.

Jetpens no longer carries these papers and my only option for buying paper for Etegami is now a 2 to 3 hour drive to a Japanese stationery store in LA, or ordering them directly from Japan, which makes the cost prohibitive for a small order. I'm sure other people out there have an even more difficult time acquiring paper for etegami. I have made a request at Jetpens in their Product Request form for them to bring back these papers or something equivalent. 

A friend purchased these papers at a Japanese stationery store, but I don't know if they're good for Etegami or not; she hasn't tried them. Update: Dosanko Debbie reports that these are OK for etegami, with the left being ordinary paper, and the right a higher quality. Thanks Debbie!

UPDATE: As of August 2012, Jetpens is carrying Etegami papers again!