Where papermaking begins
Facing west along the eastern edge of the site stands the Fiber-Boiling House, the building where the making of paper begins. Dating to 1952, it is where the raw plant fibers, kozo (楮, paper mulberry), mitsumata (三椏), gampi (雁皮) and asa (麻, hemp), are boiled and washed before they can become paper.
The plan is long on the north-south axis under a single-pitch sheet-metal roof (tetsuban-buki, 鉄板葺), an unusual covering among the mill's tiled buildings. Following the fall of the ground, the northern half sits a step lower than the southern, a frank response to the sloping site.
Why it matters
The Fiber-Boiling House was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in February 2021, among the eight buildings entered under the criterion of contributing to the region's historical landscape. It is the opening scene in a compound that lays out the whole papermaking process building by building.
What happens here decides everything that follows. Boiling loosens and cleans the fibers; workers then pick out specks and impurities by hand in warm water, a cold and patient job in winter, before the stock is ready to be beaten. The quality of the mill's celebrated papers, including the hemp-based kumohada-mashi (雲肌麻紙), rests on this first, unglamorous step.
What to look for
The exterior is clad in vertical boarding. Inside, the building divides into two rooms in the north half and one in the south, with the boiling kettles and washing area set in the southern room. The split-level floor, stepping down to the north, is the clearest sign of how the builders worked with the terrain rather than against it.
With Kogura to the north, the boiling house helps form the roadside scene along the eastern boundary of the works. It is a working part of an active mill, best seen from the lane and understood as the first station in a sequence that runs through beating, forming, pressing and drying.
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Q&A
- What happens in the Fiber-Boiling House?
- Raw plant fibers such as kozo, mitsumata, gampi and hemp are boiled and washed here, the first step in making paper. Impurities are then removed by hand before the stock is beaten.
- Why does it have a metal roof?
- Its single-pitch roof is sheet metal, unusual among the mill's tiled buildings, and the floor steps down to the north to follow the slope of the ground.
- When was it built?
- In 1952 (Showa 27). It stands on the eastern edge of the site, facing west.
- Which fibers are used?
- The mill works with traditional Japanese materials, kozo (paper mulberry), mitsumata, gampi and hemp, which give its papers their strength and texture.
Basic Information
| Name | 岩野平三郎製紙所煮釜場 (Fiber-Boiling House (Nigamaba)) |
|---|---|
| Location | Otaki, Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Registered | February 26, 2021 |
| Registration no. | 18-223 |
| Count | 1 building |
| Date of construction | Showa 27 (1952) |
| Structure | Single-story wood frame, sheet-metal roof; footprint 40 sq m |
| Registration criterion | Contributes to the historical landscape of the region |
| Owner | Iwano Heizaburo Paper Mill Co., Ltd. |
| Access | Active workshop; exterior viewing from the lane. Tours and sutra-copying by prior arrangement |
References
- 文化庁 — 国指定文化財等データベース（登録有形文化財）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013721
- 株式会社岩野平三郎製紙所 公式サイト
- https://www.iwanoheizaburouseisisho.com/
- ECHIZEN WASHI — 越前和紙工業協同組合
- https://echizen-washi.com/people/washimakers/washimakers-767/
- 越前市観光協会 — 岩野平三郎製紙所
- https://www.echizen-tourism.jp/travel_echizen/experience_detail/174
Last verified: 2026.07.05