Mitsumata fiber is harvested from a bush from which the inner bark is isolated to make paper. Mitsumata paper often has more tone, and is very soft and absorbent. It takes 2 or 3 years to regenerate.

It is much more difficult – and a Japanese specialty – to make very thin even papers like these than it is to make thicker sheets. It requires tremendous care in cleaning the barks of all dross, and great skill at forming the sheets evenly. In spite of their weight, many of these papers will hold layers of ink for printmaking or drawing, and hold up very well to repeated handling. in conservation work or when wet.