Washi Arts

Selecting a Japanese paper can be confusing and the biggest source of that confusion is understanding weights.

Washi weights are expressed as GSM — the Metric Standard when comparing the weights of papers. You will see references such as 21g / 50g / etc.

3.7g — 9g is very lightweight tissue primarily used for conservation and repair / very transparent

10g — 25g is light weight, strong and translucent

25g — 45g is the average weight of many Japanese papers with some translucency and great strength

45g — 70g is more opaque with good body, and while the feel is very different, is the approximate weight of Western bond paper

There are not too many Japanese papers over 75g

Japanese papers are generally thinner than Western papers — but much stronger. Japanese papers, especially kozo papers, are very strong due to the long fibers making them well suited to wet media and processes such as marbling, paste papers, watercolor.

If you are used to seeing paper weight expressed in pounds, below is a chart that will help you compare

Basis Weight Grammage

13lb = 49gsm

16lb = 61gsm

20lb = 75gsm

24lb = 90gsm

28lb = 105gsm

32lb = 120gsm

36lb = 135gsm

40lb = 151gsm