Author: kpmartin

Growing Tororo-aoi Again

This year, after my encouraging results in workshops both at Bishop’s University last August and in Japan this March, I wanted to try growing my own tororo-aoi plants again. The roots of this plant are used to produce neri, a

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Papermaking Workshop, August 15th, 2026

We will be holding our Introductory Papermaking workshop on Saturday, August 15th, 2026. The workshop runs from 9am to 4pm with a 1-hour lunch break, at our shop in New Dundee, Ontario. The cost for the workshop is $80 plus

Monotype Computer Interface—Complete at last!

After far too long the computer interface for my Monotype Composition Caster is complete. In this case, “complete” means that it is a single self-contained unit with no straggling wires. My last step was to add a housing/support bracket for

Papermaking in Japan—Part 5

Other notes This is a bit of a wrap-up along with some reference links shared during the workshop Part 1: Introduction Part 2: Travel and sightseeing Part 3: Extracurricular activities Part 4: The actual papermaking workshop

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Papermaking in Japan—Part 4

The actual papermaking workshop At last, on to the actual workshop! Please also see the other parts of this series: Part 1: Introduction Part 2: Travel and sightseeing Part 3: Extracurricular activities Part 5: Other Notes

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Monotype Fo(u)nt Scheme Oddity

I was casting some type this week when I noticed an oddity on the font schemes listed in the back of the The Monotype Casting Machine Manual, which is the basis for my usual casting font schemes. The font scheme

Monotype Computer Interface Compatibility Woes

MS Windows So far, I have been using a MS Windows system to connect to my Monotype computer interface. The software that runs on the computer is written in Java so it can be run on other operating systems without

Papermaking in Japan—Part 3

Extracurricular activities Outside the actual workshop, we had various activities and side trips to occupy our downtime. For other parts, please see: Part 1: Introduction Part 2: Travel and sightseeing Part 4: The actual workshop Part 5: Other Notes

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Papermaking in Japan—Part 2

Travel and sightseeing For my trip to Japan for the Oguni Washi intensive workshop, I opted to stay a few days in Tokyo beforehand. This gave me a better combination of travel time and airfare for the flights, and also

Papermaking in Japan—Part 1

Introduction I recently returned from a week-long workshop on Japanese papermaking at a shop in Japan. The workshop ran from March 15th-21st, and was held at Oguni Washi, located in Oguni, about 20 minutes’ drive south of Nagaoka, in the

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